Rainbow Roundup 9/8: A Safer Place

(cw: mild homophobia)

Last week, I wrote about Nashville’s reluctance to risk a dollar in the face of the unfamiliar. It wasn’t the most coherent so….sorry, but I think I got it a little more concise in my review of Nick Shoulders’ new album, All Bad, on No Depression. If you haven’t listened to Nick yet, he’s from the same music family as Jude Brothers (who physically printed that first round of Rainbow Rodeo issue 1), Jude’s sibling eryn, and Willi Carlisle. All Bad uses traditional country sounds to deliver songs of substance, and forthright rejections of our contemporary forms of fascism. In other words, the album is a conversation between the past and the future we demand.

Shoulders has been drawing an enthusiastic crowd of people who would not otherwise be into country music, and his music isn’t ironic either. This reminds me of something Austin Lucas said in this morning’s interview on the site: they’ve begun to express their gender expression more freely on stage, and fewer people have been coming to their shows since. Lucas feels ambivalent about this: on the one hand, this is the crowd they’ve always hoped to play for — a beautiful, enthusiastic, intersectional audience. But why are so many staying home all of a sudden? It’s not like Lucas’ music or politics have changed.

When I was hawking zines down at the South Street Seaport a few weeks ago, my line was to ask people if they wanted to learn more about queer country music. Some girls walked away and murmured under their breath (perhaps thinking the women at the stall next to mine were straight), “We’re straight country.”

Anyone who has grown up as a queer women (and all the gender-related asterisks within that experience) knows the casual cutting of female homophobia all too well. I really don’t hang out with that type of straight woman, so I forgot all about it. It kind of stung! Homophobic guys want to beat you up, but homophobic women just treat you like shit on their shoes.

But why are people so, like, nervous about learning more about queer people? Is it homophobia itself? Is it a reluctance of taking up space, that a queer country show isn’t for cishets? Perhaps this is what the artists who don’t want to be pigeonholed are afraid of. But we also see out-and-proud artists like Orville and Brandi selling out huge arenas — and not all of the people in those audiences are queer. As Lucas observed in our interview, if queer people are safe at a country show, that means everyone is safe at a country show, and I think that’s the key here: making a place where everyone feels safe.

So what is it about some artists that the divide is no longer relevant? Am I missing something? Do you have a theory? Responses welcome!

Rainbow Roundup

  • Friend to Rainbow Rodeo Lorie Liebig interviewed the Brothers Osborne about their upcoming album, and how the pair — especially TJ, who came out a few years ago — feel more comfortable expressing themselves, in American Songwriter
  • You probably already Niko Stratis’ critique of magazines making aging celebrities discuss their views on trans people for clickbait, but just in case
  • Just a fun footnote to the most recent episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Making Gay History. This season focused on the 1970s and is quite powerful! Episode 6 plays clips from the first major march for gay rights DC and features an extended clip of Blackberry playing his song “Eat the Rich.” Blackberry played on the original Lavender Country album. If you’ve never listened to MGH, I actually think this season is the best place to start, then work backwards.
  • Support disabled artists when you support Rampd
  • Are you on BlueSky? I made a feed for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC country music!
  • If you’re here, you like music zines. Longtime Wide Open Country contributor Addie Moore is taking pre-orders for their indie punk zine No Spectators
  • You can get almost 50% off the book Queer Country using this code: F21UIP
  • 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

Artist Resources

Events

  • 9/19 — The Americana Proud showcase will be Americanafest’s first official LGBTQ+ showcase. It will feature Jessye DeSilva, Lila Blue, Denitia, Crys Matthews, and many many more.
  • 9/20 — J. Dewveall is hosting a showcase at The Underdog in Nashville with Paisley Fields, Sarah King, Angela Perley, and more!
  • 9/21 – 9/23: Amythyst Kiah, Katie Pruitt and many other incredible artists (like some guy named Tyler Childers) are playing the Healing Appalachia festival in Lewisburg, WV
  • 9/23 — Americanafest is only doing an LGBTQ+ showcase for the first time this year, but this is the fourth annual Queer Roots show during Americanafest! It will feature Crys Matthews, Mercy Bell, Julie Nolen, Wiley Gaby, Secret Emchy Society, Austin Lucas, and Julian Talamntez Brolaski — hey, we know all those people!
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