ONE ON ONE: Valerie June - What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) 02/16/24 Vibromonk Studios, NYC

Valerie June sits down for a One On One Session at Vibromonk Studios in Queens, NYC for a special performance of What Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong on February 16th, 2024. For more visit: www.valeriejune.com Directed, shot, and edited by Ehud Lazin Audio by Dan Shatsky
from Valerie:
Why yes, I’ve been away quietly meditating on the side of a snowy mountain 😆, but I wanted to come and share one of my favorite banjo songs to play these days.
I dedicate this one to the Queens- Beyonce and Rhiannon Giddens and their country HIT!
As a black artist working within the limits of algorithms and genres created by labels to sell the product of music, I often get compared to my sisters in music. While it’s a compliment because they are badasses, it’s also very limiting. We are not a monolith. Just like Bob Dylan doesn’t sound like Neil Young, no two of us are the same, and we aren’t to be swapped out, discarded, or replaced by each other to fit into the sellable and awardable marketplace. Doesn’t that discount the growth we’ve made toward acknowledging the beauty of our existence? It is my hope that all creators can create while using our background as a strength, but not a definition. From our race to gender and sexual orientation, I long for the day that souls who need to hear a particular song at a specific moment gravitate to it because it’s just great music and not because of these constructs and our abilities to check the boxes. We are getting there! What would finding a new way of taking music to the marketplace look like? How would we sell it without sorting it? Is it even possible?
There are so many people of color making genre-fluid music. May it be boundless and free! What a Wonderful World 🌸🌈🌞
Love and Snowflakes!
V. June
To my Earthlings: Do you believe we live in a wonderful world?