Hey y'all, welcome to Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living.

I'm your host, Sid Evans, and today I'm talking with Kirby, a musician whose soulful sound

carries the influence of her Mississippi roots.

She was born just across the border in Memphis, but she grew up in the tight-knit community of Eudora,

surrounded by cousins, church choirs, and plenty of talented relatives who knew how to cook.

Her grandmother, Cora, could lead a song as easily as she could deliver a baby,

something she did often as one of the first midwives in DeSoto County.

Now more than a decade into her career, Kirby is set to honor that legacy with her second studio

album, Miss Black America, short from Mississippi Black America.

It's a deeply personal record that blends modern soul with family history, weaving the voices of her loved ones and the stories of her home state.

Today we're talking about the memories that have shaped her as an artist, the Stax Music Academy years that helped launch her career, and the musical legacy of the nearby plantation that shares her family's last name.

All that and the story behind a song of hers called Loved by You that took on a life of its own on this week's Biscuits and Jam.

Hey, I like the sound of it.

That's what I should have for breakfast, okay?

Biscuits and jam, honey.

Always better than a bagel.

That's true.

In the South, that's a very true thing. That's how true. Well, Sid. I love it. Hey, Sid. How you doing? I'm great. I'm great. So I'm coming to you from Birmingham. Where am I reaching you? What? You know, pink beard is wrapping y'all so hard. Oh, my God. Have you gotten into pink beard yet? No.

Oh, my God.

Everything he does, he's rapping Birmingham, Bermanent, Bermanent, Berman.

A black guy, country singer with the pink beard. You got to get into him. I'm coming from you live from Mississippi. Okay. All right. Yeah, not too far from you. And not too far from Memphis, right?

Not too far from Memphis.

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