INTERVIEW: Andrew Sa Plumbs the Depths of "Dark Phoenix"
Chicago cowboy crooner Andrew Sa changed lanes from folk to country after opening for Lavender Country in 2017. When meeting the late Patrick Haggerty, who released the first known gay-themed album in country music history in 1973, Sa sought to write a new collection of songs from the new perspective of his queer country crooner persona, Lonesome Andrew. With several half written songs in tow, he set out to finish them on a writing retreat with his close friend Liam Kazar.
With the help of his backing band, Sa went on to arrange and record them at Foxhall Studio in Chicago, IL. Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Cosmic Country Showcase co-founder Dorian Gehring with added backup vocals from Sima Cunningham of Finom (fka Ohmme), these two tracks center on Andrew’s relationship to queerness.
He wrote “Dark Phoenix” as a tribute to his boyfriend, who sadly died young, and he wrote the soft but strong “Little Lamb” as his gay country anthem, inspired by Patrick Haggerty. In our interview, Sa tells us how his relationship with his high school sweetheart began and shouts out his inspirations.
What would you like people to know about your coming out experience?
I was lucky. I came out when I was 15 in a liberal Bay Area suburb, or rather I was lifted out of the closet by my first boyfriend, Matt Palazzolo – whom the song “Dark Phoenix” is about. A senior to my sophomore, he was fearless and proud from the moment I met him. He held my hand as we walked through campus and he kissed me before every class. While I kept this from my conservative father for another eight years, I called my mother the first night Matt kissed me and she replied, “YAY! Wear a condom!”
Tell us about the first song you wrote.
The very first song I wrote was back in acting school. I was 18 or 19 and performing as a plate and a spatula in our production of Beauty and the Beast and my high school sweetheart, Matt, drove from L.A. to see me after a long time of little contact. The song, called “Under the Weather,” was about the uncharacteristically rainy California day and the unexpected emotional reaction I had seeing him after the show. Sometimes you think you have a handle on something and then you crumble when they look you in the eye.
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
Most of the time I start with lyrics, often with just a single line – a clever turn of phrase or a pretty set of words strung together just right. That line, spoken aloud several times, will usually reveal a natural melody. If I get that far – I’m in. Then maybe I focus on the mood with the chord progression or do some free writing and find the meaning, but I consistently start with a single line of lyric. It’s all I really need, a line that I’m obsessed with. I follow my obsessions.
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
I like this question. I do have a list of perfect songs. I’m gonna say “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison. It places me exactly where it promises to, in a bittersweet dream with the one I love, only to awake and remember they’ve gone. Just like a dream, it captures so many emotions – Roy’s iconic voice traveling through different terrains and colors. The fantasy meets reality, the light meets dark – it’s just a masterpiece.
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
“Dovetail” by H.C. McEntire. It is a stunning anthem. American, queer, and majestic. Modern and timeless. Heather devastates me with her poetic lyrics, and her voice is truly country golden.
