June 14, 2024

Happy Pride, Maren Morris!

Happy Pride to Maren Morris!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8AGJTTJqdm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Morris posted on Instagram on Tuesday that she represents the “B” in “LGBTQ” and we are happy to have her! To hear Marissa R Moss tell it in the brilliant Her Country, Morris has always followed the beat of her own drum, covering Beyonce as a teenager in the Texas country music circuit and breaking out as the first true country music success on Spotify when the traditional radio infrastructure didn’t seem as responsive to her. Some time after her social media — argument? spat? callout? — of the Aldeans and their disgusting transphobic rhetoric in 2022, Morris reported an interview with the LA Times last fall that she is leaving country music behind.

It’s difficult not to wonder how much Nashville’s institutions — and her no longer being beholden to them — are a factor in this public announcement, though of course it is also a deeply personal journey.

I was not so charitable about Morris’ t-shirt fundraiser in the Aldean aftermath and, well — egg on my face. I’m trying to be less of a hater. Since then, I’ve reconsidered how I approach the idea of country singers (especially mainstream country singers) coming out. I was recently interviewed in a forthcoming article about this subject, and I think that expecting artists to come out actually puts too much onus on the artists. There are quite a few artists who are out in Nashville but not to their fans, per se. Clearly, being out and about at home doesn’t impact their careers.

Do artists owe us that? Of course it means a lot to fans in terms of representation. But for a lot of artists, this is their ticket out of poverty — not just for them but their families. And, in the pop country world, there are entire teams of people whose own livelihood depends on your marketability. That’s a ton of pressure! Also, do you, dear reader, want to have your whole life splashed across People Magazine? (I don’t know why but any time a queer gets married or divorced they are the first to the scene.)

If my limited time speaking to industry people in Nashville has taught me anything, it’s that everyone is terrified to rock the boat. Who’s standing in the way of change? Management blames labels, labels blame radio, radio blames labels, everyone blames fans. But whose fault is it that country music fans are perceived as narrow-mind? Certainly not the marketing teams in all facets of the industry who play up white supremacist values!

So, in my opinion, we shouldn’t be asking artists to come out so much as we should be demanding the industry to see us: queer country fans and their allies. We should be demanding that they communicate to their artists that they will support LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists, no matter what the initial backlash may be from an entitled and noisy minority. If we want more queer country artists on the mainstream side of things, the mainstream needs to make it a priority.

New Music

• Wild Ponies announce their new album, Dreamers, about building a queer and poly family in the South

• Marian Runk premieres her jaded and jaunty “Possibility”

• This month, I want to feature important queer country places. We kick off the Pride of Place column with Country Risque and San Francisco

Album Reviews

• Fancy Hagood makes a stand for queer artists in country history on his covers EP Smothered, Covered, and Fried

• Swan Real works her way through dysphoria to self-acceptance on Good For Her

Playlist

• This week’s playlist features Angie K, Denitia, Flamy Grant, and more!

Rainbow Roundup

• Chris Cantwell at No Fences wrote a lovely review of Shawna Virago’s Blood In Her Dreams (We’ll be posting ours soon!)

• Jett Holden just announced his debut album, The Phoenix, which will be first record off the new Black Opry Records label! “Backwood Proclamation” features Charlie Worsham and John Osborne

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FYqOIYHOgk

  • Broadway actor Ben Platt is everywhere, and he and Brandy Clark are touring together on his new Americana album

  • MUNA stands for Palestine at LA Pride (h/t them.)

  • Melissa Etheridge highlights the stories of inmates at the Topeka Correctional Facility on her upcoming documentary

  • PAPER Mag just posted some very hot photos of Orville Peck

  • Angie K, Franky Ray, and others discuss country music’s Latin roots (Billboard)

Events

• 6/14 (NYC) — Brian Falduto is releasing a deluxe version of his album Gay Country at the Mercury Lounge — and Bryan Ruby, Hayden Joseph, and Jonathan Hopkins will also be performing!

• 6/14 (NYC) — Also, Eli Conley, Fox in the Henhouse, and Mya Byrne will be playing Branded Saloon in Brooklyn. Barring family emergencies, I’m gonna try to make it to both! Eli will also be playing Kingston, NY; the Berkshires, and the DMV area.

• 6/15 (Chicago) — Queer Country Bandwagon and THEM Queers are playing an early pride night gig at Dorothy’s!

• 6/20 (NYC) — Queer Country Swing Night is back at 3 Dollar Bill

• 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!

• 6/22 (London, UK) — Queer C*ntry and Pink Suits are playing a free gig at Southbank Centre

• 6/23 (Durham, NC) — So thrilled that Catherine the Great is performing again — this time with Amy Andrews at Seance Listening Room

• 6/28 (San Francisco) — Proud Mary is throwing a Queermericana Pridefest at Verdi Club, featuring Secret Emchy Society, Country Risque, and Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters

• 7/25 (NYC) — Stud Country has been hosting queer line-dancing parties at Brooklyn Bowl. This time, they’re bringing the party to a free outdoor dance night at Lincoln Center

• 8/4 (London, UK) — Rae Spoon plays the Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses

• 8/23 - 8/25 (Nashville) - Orville Peck is throwing a killer festival

• 10/3 (Harvard, MA) — Mary Gauthier leads a songwriting workshop and an evening of song with Jamee Harris at The Fruitlands Museum

• 10/17 - 10/20 (Texas) — Mary Gauthier, Jaimee Harris, and Carrie Rodriguez launch their Three Women & The Truth tour

Artist Resources

• What's a premiere and how do you pitch it?

• 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