A Feeling I Belonged
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Howdy, cowpokes,
I apologize for the delayed newsletters! My wife had COVID, I felt like hell (never tested positive on an at-home test), and then my laptop was out of commission for a bit.
Before anything else, I want to give a huge thank you to Jeremy Leroux of Country Everywhere for patiently helping me tweak some backend stuff on the site. Did you know you have to register with Google to get things to rank on their search engine? I did not!!!
Well, the Grammys happened. Congrats and RIP to boygenius. Allison Russell absolutely deserved a Grammy for "Eve Was Black," which imo was the best song on the whole album. Way to go to Brandy Clark, though I don't think "Dear Insecurity" was the best song on that album.
How about Tracy Chapman, eh? And that other guy who was mouthing the words next to her? (I kid -- Luke Combs so genuinely enjoys every opportunity he gets to sing and I would be shitting my pants if I had to sing with a childhood hero of mine, so you better believe I'd be making sure I had the timing absolutely right.)
I finally got around to watching the video today and can't recommend it enough if you haven't yet. My boss came over the next day to ask me about Combs, and we discussed Chapman's impact on both of us. I remember, like Combs, listening to her in the backseat of my parents' car. I was fascinated by her vocal androgyny -- both "Fast Car" and "Give Me Some Reason" were clearly written about women, but wasn't that a girl singing these love songs? For my boss, who is Black, Chapman represented gender and artistic expression that broke free of the hip-hop and R&B molds imposed on Black women in the '90s.
(Obviously, there is nothing wrong with those expressions and there is a lot of power in them, but they should not be the only ones in the media. The more things change, etc.)
Watching that Grammy performance, though, with the audience losing their minds to welcome Chapman back into the spotlight, Taylor Swift, Jelly Roll, and a guy I didn't recognize absolutely hollering along, and the moments where Chapman and Combs harmonized...beyond the power of the song itself (which always gives me goosebumps every single time), this moment was electrifying. It was a moment of what music could be like if the industry got out of its own way, casting aside genre classification, homophobia, racism, and sexism.
(Though, of course, this performance does not make all of the bullshit she put up with any better, nor does it make it go away.)
Any conversation about equity in music -- and especially country music -- must be intersectional. I don't need to tell you that, but if we're going to talk about LGBTQ+ equity in country and Americana, we can't ignore that on most weeks the front page of Rainbow Rodeo is 100% white. We can't let the burden fall on one artist alone, as it did on Chapman. Nor can it be one step at a time, with white women helping each other out and forgetting about well, everyone else. (And that's not exclusive to country, either.)
Fortunately, there will be a number of initiatives in 2024 to begin to correct the record. Jewly Hight's Making Noise podcast mini-series will explore the challenges of the Black music scene in Nashville, which would prefer it if we all think country music is the only thing happening there. Historian and songwriter Alice Randall will be releasing her book My Black Country, a history of Black artists in country music and their unacknowledged contribtions to the genre, along with a companion album from Oh Boy Records, in April. And, of course, the Black Opry is launching its record label this summer. There's a lot of progress, but as Holly G says in our interview, it's time to ignore the system because we've been butting our heads against it over and over again with no progress. How can we organize LGBTQ+ artists to do the same?
Reviews
KC Odesser reviews Willi Carlisle's haven for outcasts, Critterland
Wife and wife duo The Shandies premiered their wistful appeal to the universe, "Teach Me a Lesson"
Sophia Eliana digs deep into the richness of life on Honey & Pear
Interviews
Hen in the Foxhouse addresses inequalities in the Hudson Valley folk scene and provides steps towards solutions
Two-spirit songwriter Marx Cassity digs deep and goes electric on their new album (see reviews)
Experimental folk collective Middle Sattre shatters queer shame on their gorgeous folk album (out today!)
Spencer LaJoye loves to say the queer part outloud in their conversational shows
Playlists
Stephanie Lambring, Brennan Wedl, Nan Macmillan, Sarah Shook, Lawrence Rothman, Izzy Ryder, and many many more since I had to catch up from the 2 weeks I missed!
Rainbow Roundup
PS, folk music is culpable in the theft of Black culture and music
PPS, Kym Register's Meltdown Rodeo called out Joni Mitchell's persistent racism in "Blue"
Cecilia Gentili, a giant of trans rights, has passed away
Congrats to Paula Boggs, who won the American Bar Association's Stonewall Lifetime Achievement Award
Jaimee Harris is on the most recent episode of the Marinade Podcast
Don't Rock the Inbox recontextualizes
Are you on BlueSky? I made a feed for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC country music!
You can get almost 50% off the book Queer Country using this code: F21UIP
Support disabled artists when you support Rampd
This thread gives advice on self-managed transition in Alabama and other states that restrict our bodily autonomy
And here’s a directory of DIY HRT
Eli Conley is running a queer songwriting circle
Events
2/11 (Philadelphia) — Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, Sam Rise, and Andrew Sa are headlining another installment of Baby’s First Rodeo
3/16 (Forth Worth, TX) — The Forth Worth African American Music fest returns featuring Lizzie No, Joy Clark, Crys Matthews, and Lilli Lewis as well as many others!
6/6 (Torrey, UT) — Jaime Wyatt is playing Fort Desolation Fest
6/22 (Vienna, VA) — Storied venue the Wolf Trap is hosting an Out & About Fest, featuring Brittany Howard, Jenny Lewis, Kim Gordon, and many more artists!
Artist Resources
DEADLINE 4/1: Apply to perform at Philly Folk Fest!
Got a release coming up? Add it to Country Everywhere’s newsletter! Country Everywhere is a directory of artists and news for queer, BIPOC, and disabled artists.
With Bandcamp changing hands and union busting, here are some alternative resources for selling your music online
Are you on BlueSky? Queer country artist 2 AM Wake Up Call created this feed of musicians. You can ask them to be added to the feed!
I also made a Y’alltertantive Feed on Bluesky. Let me know if you’d like your posts to appear on the feed!
We Are Moving the Needle is looking for women and non-binary audio engineers and music producers
Eli Conley is teaching Unlock the Song Inside: Beginning Songwriting Class for Queer & Trans Folks & Allies, and he also offers an online LGBTQ+ songwriter circle!
Are you on Mastodon or another part of the Fediverse? Get your music on RadioFreeFedi!
PS — If you’re thinking of joining Mastodon, make an account on musician.social and read my tips for making Mastodon work for you!
Submit your music and events to The Q LGBTQ Creative Network
This Twitter thread has a whole list of places to find jobs in the music industry
And here’s a list of resources for “women” entering the music industry — presumably they also encourage nonbinary participants
Submit your profile to the Country Everywhere which seeks to unite BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists and professionals
Sign up to the Black Opry Revue’s interest form!
Check out the weekly Queerfolk Fest show in Nashville