Senora May w/ Special Guest Wayne Graham

Although Senora loves to experiment with different sounds and genres, everything always comes back to her native Eastern Kentucky in the end.  One of six children, she grew up playing in the woods, going hunting or fishing with her four brothers, identifying wildflowers and their uses, and says she always felt “comforted by the hills, calmed by being outside.”  In fact, Senora says she feels sorry for people who are disconnected from nature. “We need it,” she says. 

Her music has also been influenced by the sounds of the outdoors.  “The auditory boundaries are endless.  You’ll hear frequencies in the hills right before the sun goes down that you can’t make up on your own with a synthesizer,” she says.  “Certain birds and little yipping foxes, bobcats, pitches of bugs, there’s just so much to be inspired by.” 

Senora feels a duty as someone from rural Appalachia to honor the culture’s musical tradition while also expanding notions of what it must be. “The thing about being from a place that you’re so proud of, you want to make everyone there proud too. Everyone feels connected by the music and what’s been given to us by shared hardships and the strength our people have to power through. I feel a certain obligation to remain true to my raising, which inspires my music greatly.” 

In the short time she’s been in the public eye Senora May has emerged as one of the most exciting new voices out of a region rich with musical heritage.  She’s also become a role model for young rural women and possesses a keen understanding of that responsibility. “I want to keep putting out music that makes me feel good and demonstrates that I can voice my feelings, emotions I know other women growing up in similar settings feel. There are so many women that don’t have a voice, stifled by misogyny, their husbands, their culture, their own selves, our political climate,” she says.  “Besides just making it, I’d like to create positive change through my music for people who need it. I don’t think anyone should be held back, treated differently or stifled creatively, based on their gender, or anything else they can’t help.” 

Senora May is an engaging singer-songwriter and compelling onstage performer.  She’s an artist whose talent will only grow because she knows so well who she is.  Like the best songs, hers become more intricate and remarkable once they’re listened to more often and more closely. She’s like the countryside itself:  not easy to define, impossible to tame, and always interesting.