Yola, who closes out her European tour with a sold-out show at London's Islington Assembly Hall tonight, recently spoke with NPR member station 88Nine Radio Milwaukee for its Yours Truly series of up-close artist interviews. She talks about meeting Mavis Staples—with whom she performs at the Beacon Theatre in New York City next Tuesday as part of WFUV's Holiday Cheer for FUV concert—and surrounding herself with "golden people" to make her music in a supportive environment.

"The environment that I've built for myself—it is so important to connect," she says. "Certainly you'll hear this from women far and wide that there are environments that don't let them self-actualize, and that was definitely No. 1, people that accepted me as I was."

You can see what else she had to say here:

Yola spoke with BBC correspondent Colin Paterson on BBC Radio 4's Today show this morning ahead of her London concert tonight. You can hear what she had to say at two hours and forty-seven minutes into the episode at bbc.co.uk.

Yola has been nominated for four Grammy Awards: Best New Artist; Best Americana Album for her Dan Auerbach–produced debut album, Walk Through Fire, released on Easy Eye Sound / Nonesuch Records; Best American Roots Performance for album track "Faraway Look"; and Best American Roots Song for "Faraway Look" with fellow songwriters Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin. To pick up a copy, head to your local record store, iTunes, Amazon, the Easy Eye Sound Store, or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout. You can also hear the album now on Spotify and Apple Music.