Bonnie Montgomery joins us from Texas to discuss what it’s like to create art as society crumbles, the imbecility of the billionaire class trading AI for funding the arts, and how music is one of the things that can actually bring us together.
More about Bonnie:
Raised in rural Arkansas, Bonnie first trained as an opera singer before finding her voice in country music. That unusual path has shaped a career that moves comfortably between traditions, blending the storytelling of classic country, the emotional weight of folk music, and the dramatic power of opera into something that feels entirely her own.
Over the past decade, she's become one of the most distinctive voices in Americana and outlaw country, earning the Ameripolitan Award for Outlaw Female Artist of the Year and multiple Arkansas Country Music Awards, including Entertainer of the Year. Critics have praised her timeless songwriting, while fellow artists like Dale Watson have celebrated both the strength of her voice and the authenticity of her music.
Her catalog reflects that restless creativity. Following the EPs Cruel and Joy, she released her self-titled debut album in 2014, followed by Forever in 2018, Boat Songs 2002 in 2021, and most recently River in 2023—a deeply personal record that draws together the many musical threads she's spent a lifetime exploring.
But Bonnie's work extends well beyond the recording studio. She's also the composer of Billy Blythe, a folk opera exploring the childhood of President Bill Clinton, a work that earned attention from publications including The New Yorker and The Economist and further demonstrated her refusal to recognize boundaries between musical genres or artistic disciplines.
Today, Bonnie Montgomery continues to build a body of work that's deeply rooted in Arkansas while reaching far beyond it—music that's equal parts country, classical, folk, and personal history.