Hardware for Homos(+)
Not a whole bunch to say for the newsletter this week -- as you'll see below, I've been a busy little beaver updating the website -- plus, I'm cooking up something that will probably be more relevant next week.
That being said, let's get some credit where it's due: the CMAs were earlier this week and Grammy noms were announced earlier today!
Luke Combs' cover of "Fast Car" won song of the year, making Chapman the first Black songwriter to win a CMA, much less all of her other intersecting identities. Much ink has been spilled about a cishet white man popularizing the song and I don't have much to add.
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I do think with TikTok and other passive algorithm-based content apps coming to the fore (also Gen Z and Gen Alpha are, like, obsessed with YouTube) -- and as Spotify and other streaming apps recede in relevance -- covers are going to become more acceptable. When you think about it, it was really uncommon for pop artists to write their own songs until the Beatles and Dylan. Oh hey -- we just reinvented pop standards and radio.
(Just a side note that smarter people than I can delve into more deeply -- I don't think it's an accident that the two most popular genres this summer -- thanks to TikTok -- were mainstream country and regional Mexican music. Charles and Chris, this free idea is for you.)
Chapman was not at the show and, as is her wont, wrote a brief message. I hope she's hanging out on her ranch and count her stacks.
But she's not going to be left alone; Combs' recording just received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance. Other homos being nominated for hardware include
Boygenius (whose influence I am seeing increasingly among queer artists in American and indie rock)
Brandy Clark (whose album was produced by Brandi Carlile)
Brothers Osborne
Allison Russell
Honorable mention to Tyler Childers' "In Your Life," which had that queer coal miner video.
Is it worth having a horse in that race if we know Zach Bryan is now the new Morgan Wallen?
Interviews
Lizzie No is ready to burn country radio to the ground
Rett Madison knows it's not your fault
Reviews
Steve Roberts dives into Ester's almost-medieval new album Laundry
Soren Song joyfully, relentlessly discovers themself on I'm
Podcasts
Jessye DeSilva is our very first repeat guest -- we talk setting intentions and pursuing goals.
Playlist
This week's playlist features Brittany Howard, Brandon Stansell, Mightmare, and more!
Roundup (From Places Beyond the Rodeo)
Speaking of Charles and Chris' newsletter No Fences, their comparison of blues and country -- and the motivating impulses for both -- is going to make me think about Life for a very long time
Will Groff, who was interviewed in this here newsletter about a year ago, wrote an article about the history of queer country music for LGBTQ Nation. I was really fascinated by his section on the '90s.
Another past contributor, Steacy Easton, just published their memoir on being trans, an academic, and more. When do they freakin' sleep?