Singer Lady Blackbird has always had a huge, rafter-shaking voice.
Born Marley Munroe in New Mexico, she got her start singing in church when she was just a toddler. By the time she was twelve, she’d been signed by a Christian record label.
She began carving out a reputation in the crossover religious rock scene, working with groups like DC Talk — but she never really felt at home. She knew there was something inside her that didn’t quite make sense in the world of faith-based music.
It wasn’t until a few years ago, when she was in her late 30s, that Munroe finally found her voice.
Taking on the stage name Lady Blackbird, she began to allow her inner turmoil into her music. Her 2022 album “Black Acid Soul” was her first foray into this more personal style of singing. And with her new record, “Slang Spirituals,” she’s going even further.
Lady Blackbird will perform at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix on Sunday, and she and her producer Chris Seefried joined The Show.
Conversation highlights
SAM DINGMAN: I wanted to start by asking you on the new record "Slang Spirituals," obviously we can hear a very strong jazz influence, but we also hear all kinds of other musical styles ... We hear a little bit of disco. We hear a little bit of like finger-picked guitar, almost folk-style music. Some prog rock sort of sounds. Even though the record moves around stylistically very much, there's also a real constant on it, which is this very introspective quality of the lyrics.
And there's one in particular that I wanted to ask you about that felt somewhat emblematic of of the full experience, which is — it's on the song "Man on a Boat," where you sing, "I've just begun to see the woman I've always meant to be." Tell me about what that line means to you and, and what it suggests about the rest of your work on this album.
LADY BLACKBIRD: You know, this one was extremely personal because these were my stories. These are my stories and experiences, you know. They just kind of came out that way. It's not that I went in, you know, saying, "OK, I want to make this album about what I've been through." You know, like when we had written "Someday Will be free and we writing with doing the demo, you know, as I was actually singing those lyrics, there was so much about me that I cried on the demo and we actually ended up using a part of that because it was so real.
The biggest part of the album was me talking to myself, you know, me talking to myself and someday will be free. It's me talking to myself as a little girl, basically saying, ... "It's gonna be all right."
SAM DINGMAN: Well, I read a quote from you thatI wanted to ask you about in this vein. You said, "As I began to develop my own identity as a queer woman, I felt judged as an outcast and labeled as a sinner." And I was curious to know, I mean, I know music has been a part of your life since you were very young — since you've been singing basically since you can walk. And I know you also grew up singing in the church and singing in religious contexts. Did you feel that judgment from like the music community or from the religious community? Was it a sense of both?
LADY BLACKBIRD: It was always from from the religious community. It was never really from the music community, because I mean, you know, I grew up singing, like you said, in church. And being in such a small town, those were really the only outlets that my mother was really able to get me in. And, you know, not to mention they were, you know — she was Christian and religious as well. So all of that was fine with with her. And you know, you're a kid. You have to go with your parents ... You don't realize until later and when you start finding out who you are and asking questions and not being afraid to, you know, to figure that out. Not just playing follow the leader — but figuring out who you are, that's when you start realizing, how are you gonna label anyone a sinner? Have you not looked in the mirror yet? I mean, there's so many things. The hypocrisy is just, it's overwhelming. It's so overwhelming, and it does so much damage. It's so against what some of these people are wanting to teach and preach ... You know, loving everybody and forgiveness. And it's like, how about the first finger pointing? You know, so it was definitely from the religious community.
I was basically taught and told that I was not able to be, you know, gay or lesbian, whatever you wanna call it. That that was such a sin. So I didn't even realize that I could be ... you're scared ... "Oh, my God, that's a sin. I can't do that." ... And then later on when you start realizing, "Oh, it's actually not, wait, what are these feelings?"
DINGMAN: Well, this quality of stepping into yourself and and singing more from a, a sense of your truth as as who you are. Does it feel different to sing now? Like, does your voice feel different to you?
LADY BLACKBIRD: I don't know if it feels different because it's, I had always stood in it, honestly. This is just the first time anyone's getting to hear it, you know? [LAUGHS] The truth of it ... — me — has always been very much there.
DINGMAN: So that's very interesting. If I'm hearing you right, it's like the truth was always there in the sound. It's just that it now you're able to have it be there in the world.
CHRIS SEEFRIED: I think ... yeah, I think that's really accurate. The whole thing just feels like it caught up to itself. Like I always used to say to her, "It's already happened, we just have to live through it."
DINGMAN: Well, as a last question, I hear you saying that the religious culture was not very welcoming of the truth of who you were. But obviously there's a difference between religious culture and and religion, you know, and faith itself. So what part of the religious context of that singing has survived for you?
LADY BLACKBIRD: I mean, I think there's so much rooted in gospel music ... so much meaning and soul and depth. And that has definitely survived and definitely a part of who I am and always will be. You know, it's the negative add-ons that didn't survive.
