INTERVIEW: Sam Gleaves Finds Beauty in HONEST
Sam Gleaves is truly a queer country treasure. His 2015 album Ain’t We Brothers is as raw and emotional as the day it came out, an ode to queer life in Appalachia when such voices on the national stage were all too rare. Gleaves is a consummate banjo player and gives earth-shattering bear hugs, all while delivering simple truths with an angelic voice. That his upcoming album, HONEST, is his most personal yet should come as a celebration and a warning — to have the tissues handy when it comes out this Friday. Below, Gleaves tells us about making the album and finding joy in vulnerability.
Who would you love to collaborate with? Why?
Making music with my friends is a great joy. Hasee Ciaccio and Josh Goforth were the core team on our new record, HONEST. They are world class musicians and singers with real gifts for arranging songs. Josh Goforth is a genius producer; he can record parts while deeply listening and envisioning the full production. I was amazed that Hasee and Josh understood my songs so well. Their contributions lifted the songs to where they needed to be. We laughed as much as we sang in the studio. That joy comes through in the recordings. Speaking of joy, two of my very favorite singers from Kentucky sang harmony on the record: Carla Gover and Linda Jean Stokley. My buddy Jared Tyler recorded a dobro part from his home studio in Tulsa and Jeff Taylor added an accordion part from his home studio in Nashville. This was my first experience working with Chris Rosser, who did a brilliant job engineering the record and played a stellar honky tonk piano on “Down Home Diva.” It was a real privilege to work with all of these musicians and singers. I’m proud of every second of music we created together.
How do you feel your coming out journey plays into your music?
HONEST contains the most vulnerable and personal songs I have ever recorded. Queer love songs coexist with songs about my childhood and my family. During the past decade, I steadily worked toward healing the internalized shame around my queerness. Songwriting was a source of solace for me in that process. I’m glad to say that there are joyful and campy songs on the record in addition to passionate and tearful ones. I’m fortunate that my blood family, my chosen family, and my music community have supported me through my journey. A lot of that love is woven into this new record.
What words did you need to hear as you explored your identity?
The opening and closing songs on this record are for my parents. “Beautiful” tells about my Mom taking me on a trip to San Francisco. I was about twelve years old and just beginning to come out to myself. We saw two men holding hands on the street, which I had certainly never seen at home in southwest Virginia. Mom saw the couple and said, “Aren’t they beautiful?” Even then, I knew that she was dropping a hint to make sure that I knew that she loved me as I am.
When I was growing up, there was a huge, stately walnut tree in the front yard at my Dad’s house. Dad used to tell me, “I love you big as a walnut tree.” That was another phrase that I hung onto as I was coming out. I wrote “Walnut Tree” for Dad.
Where are some places you’ve found joy within the country/Americana world?
My favorite shows are always the ones for rural queer and trans audiences. My dear friend Rae Garringer organized a concert and exhibition to celebrate their multimedia oral history project, Country Queers, at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky in January 2020. Rae shared excerpts from their work and we all felt the beauty and importance of rural queer stories. Queer, trans, and straight people came together to dance, sing, holler, listen, and carry on. My buddies Cory Shenk and Pierceton Hobbs played with me that night, and we rocked out to the music of Slut Pill, east Kentucky’s own contraceptive rock band. Letcher County’s own drag diva J.D. Vaughn brought her glitz and glamor. The joy and sense of community that we felt during that show helped to sustain us through the isolation of the first phase of the COVID pandemic. The Country Queers book (Rae Garringer, Haymarket Books) will be published in the fall of 2024 and it’s now available for pre-order.
Do you try to make the most of being in a city, or do you prefer to just rest up?
It’s funny you should ask because I’m in London today on vacation with my partner. At heart, I am a granny who loves to go to bed early, but while the sun is out, I’m ready to hit the streets.
Sam Gleaves’ new album, HONEST, is available for pre-order via Bandcamp and will be available everywhere Friday, August 23rd.
