With Back for Me, seven-times Blues Music Awards winner Janiva Magness continues to renew and redefine her widely celebrated relationship with the music on a powerfully engaging, emotionally rich collection. Produced by her longtime guitarist and collaborator Dave Darling, the album is a treasure chest of lesser-known gems by well-known artists (Bill Withers, Ray LaMontagne, Allen Toussaint, Doyle Bramhall II, Tracy Nelson) and deep-dive discoveries brought through Magness’ voracious, wide-ranging searches for songs that connect with the deep feelings embodied in her voice and music, cherished by her fans.

It’s the 17th album for Magness, who in addition to those awards (including being named B.B. King Artist of the Year in 2009), earned a Grammy Awards Contemporary Blues nomination for her 2016 album Love Wins Again. It follows the 2019 publication of her memoir, Weeds Like Us, a vividly portrayed account of both the traumas of her youth (her parents’ suicides and her often-nightmarish experiences in the foster care system) and the hard-earned triumphs that have fueled her growth as an artist and in life, inspiration also found in her 2022 album Hard to Kill.