shirlette ammons

shirlette ammons is a Durham, North Carolina–based poet and musician whose recent work includes Twilight for Gladys Bentley, a full-length hip-hop album that reimagines the work of 1960s blues singer Gladys Bentley. In September 2015, she launched SugarQube Records in collaboration with her twin sister Shorlette, to support artists who are often underrepresented and whose music blends and blurs genre lines. ammons’s sophomore solo album, Language Barrier, will be co-released by Churchkey and SugarQube Records in February 2016 and features guest appearances by the Indigo Girls, Meshell Ndegeocello, Hiss Golden Messenger, and others. For more about shirlette and SugarQube, visit www.SugarQubeRecords.com.*

One-Track Mind – Issue 20

“Green Onions” and a Gran Torino

From the back seat of her aunt’s turquoise Gran Torino, shirlette ammons hears Booker T. and the MGs for the first time.