By Holly Gleason

If the only standing ovation at UMG Nashville’s 2020 Country Radio Seminar showcase at the Ryman—for her femme-empowering “What Are You Gonna Her”—weren’t enough, Guyton returns on the crest of Black Lives Matter with the equally of-the-moment vital truth that is “Black Like Me.”

A powerhouse vocalist of the Carrie Underwood school, the Texas-born and -raised songwriter embraced her personal reality in an industry logjammed for women and struck a powerful chord in this time of reckoning. No surprise, then, that there’s early Grammy buzz for her brand of classic power country.

This 10-year overnight sensation is invested with a singular, real-world perspective of the sort America is clamoring for.