“I was in Munich in my undies and was intermittently crying for
24 hours,” says Yola, recalling last November, when she learned
of her first-ever Grammy Award nominations. “There’s not many things
that will bring me to a standstill, but that was definitely one of them.”
The 36-year-old British singer is battling bronchitis when we meet
in the lobby of her New York hotel one afternoon in December, but
she still beams when discussing her four nominations — including
nods for best new artist and best Americana album — that capped
an already impressive year. In addition to releasing her debut album,
Walk Through Fire, which The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach produced
and released on his Easy Eye Sound label, Yola shared the stage with
Mavis Staples and Dolly Parton at the Newport Folk Festival, sang
on the debut album from country supergroup The Highwomen and
found famous fans in everyone from Jamie Lee Curtis to Kendall
Jenner. “It’s really normal for me to get a text from Brandi Carlile or
Sheryl Crow,” says Yola. “This was not normal eight months ago.”
With her powerful, husky voice, vulnerable lyrics and fusion of
country, soul and 1960s pop, it’s not surprising that Yola has found
enthusiastic fans in the Recording Academy. But as a debut indie
artist in a field of chart juggernauts — her best new artist competition
includes Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and Lizzo — she represents the kind of
artist who perhaps would have flown under the radar in the Grammys’
general categories had the academy not expanded the number of
nominees in those fields from five to eight in 2018. She’s already see-
ing the benefits of being in such company: In the first full week after
being nominated Yola’s total on-demand U.S. streams increased by
25%, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
Getting here wasn’t easy. Born Yolanda Quartey, she grew up in
poverty in Bristol, England, and was discouraged from making music
by her mother over concerns for the field’s financial instability. As an
adult, she fronted the country-soul band Phantom Limb, toured with
artists like Massive Attack and worked behind the scenes as a sessions
singer, but she struggled in her personal life: She was briefly homeless,
endured an abusive relationship and survived a 2015 house fire — trials
that bled into her music, most notably the album’s title track.
Her fortunes changed in 2016, when Yola made her debut at
Nashville’s AmericanaFest with a rapturously received set. Foot-
age of her performance reached Auerbach, who soon got in touch
about collaborating and ultimately co-wrote almost every song on
the album. Still, one of the biggest obstacles she faced was her own
confidence. Yola says she often felt like a “supporting character” in
her own career: “Even when I was in a situation where it looked [like]
I was leading, I filtered my personality, my opinion. I tried desperately
to assimilate.” Some of that, she says, was due to the overwhelming
whiteness of country and Americana music, where Yola had few role
models. But finding peers like The Highwomen — made up of Carlile,
Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires — has since helped
her own what she brings to the table. “I felt for the first time in a long
time that I was in an environment where each person was celebrated
for their differences,” she says of recording with the band.
Expect that newfound fearlessness to shine through on her second
album, which she hopes to release later this year and says will show-
case even more of her influences, from jazz to The Kinks. “This record
is turning into the next step of exploration,” says Yola. “Going slightly
further afield and coming back home.”
Country-soul singer Yola endured plenty
to make her debut album, Walk Through Fire —
and now she’s a surprise Grammys breakout
BY ILANA KAPLAN
PHOTOGRAPHED BY HAO ZENG
Find out what You Should Know about Yola at billboard.com/videos.
Trial By Fire
152 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020