Hey y'all, welcome to Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living. I'm your host, Sid Evans.

And today I'm talking with one of the most intriguing artists I've ever had on the show.

Valerie June was raised in Humboldt, Tennessee, just north of Jackson. And though she now spends a good

deal of time in New York, she still has a place

in Humboldt that's been passed down through her family. In 2018, Valerie was inducted into

the Humboldt Hall of Fame, which she calls one of her greatest honors. And she often returns

there to write music and reconnect with family. In 2021, Valerie was nominated for a Grammy for Call Me a Fool,

which she recorded with the legendary Memphis singer Carla Thomas. And since then, she's published

a children's book called Somebody to Love and an interactive journal called Lightbeams. She's

toured with artists such as Dave Matthews and Tower Childers,

taught college classes, and now she has a fantastic new album out called Owls, Omen, and Oracles,

the title of which was inspired by a trip back home. We'll talk about all that, her experience

with homelessness as a teenager, what it was like to meet and work with Mavis Staples, and her connection to her great grandmother Bessie, all in this week's Biscuits and Jam.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

I remember me, see it.

I appreciate it.

It's so great to see you again.

It's kind of been a minute.

I mean, the last time we did this was, I checked, it was back in 2021.

It was still kind of, you know, pandemic times.

And you had a new album out called The Moon and Stars Prescriptions for Dreamers, right?

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