Rissi Palmer knew at an early age that she wanted to sing. She would stand on a milk crate as she sang with teens and adults in her church choir and grew up listening to country music. At 13, she and her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she was exposed to a wide variety of music. While in St. Louis, she took part in talent pageants, which led to her joining Team 11, an entertainment troupe who performed for audiences. It was there that her country influence started to surface. When she was 19 years old, she was offered a deal by R & B producers James Harris and Terry Lewis (who had worked with the likes of Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey) but she declined. Her heart was in country music.
Eventually she would become a finalist for the CBS show “Star Search” where judge Naomi Judd took her under her wing. Naomi introduced her to the creators of “Waiting In The Wings”, a documentary which focused on African-Americans in the country music business. Soon after, she would land a record deal with 17,20 Entertainment.
It hasn’t been an easy road for Rissi. She spoke about a time when Nashville music execs raved about her demos, but would back off when they discovered that she was Black. She said she doesn’t call it racism, but just the reality of the country music market.
Rissi’s self titled debut album will be released Tuesday, October 23rd.
Rissi Palmer - “Country Girl” Video
