Every week, Rainbow Rodeo brings you the best new queer country music! Listen to this playlist on Spotify! Thanks to Elliott for making a parallel list on Apple Music! Listen to the parallel list on Tidal. Missed a week? Thomas Inskeep is generously keeping an archive of all music featured on this Spotify playlist.
Also — if you’re looking for a Valentine’s gift — you can now purchase issue 3 of Rainbow Rodeo!
Brennan Wedl — “2 Dollar Pistol”
Indie rocker Brennan Wedl is part of the current generation of Nashville artists who just want to live in a great musician’s town, without any particular concern for country radio. But here’s the secret: get a bunch of artists together and they’ll churn out great music without thinking at all about genre. “2 Dollar Pistol” has some well-earned twang here, but it’s accompanied by a snarl and a nod to the half-assed attempts at “authenticity” in a city that pretends to prize it. If you love Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, you’ll be thrilled by Brennan.
Nan Macmillan — “Emerge”
Ahead of the March release of her album, Nan Macmillan goes deep on “Emerge.” The song is restless, a journey into Macmillan’s own interiority as she outruns her inner demons. Eventually, though, she finds peace in this experimental exploration of where music can take us.
Stephanie Lambring — “Good Mother”
Stephanie Lambring is one of the best songwriters working today, and if you didn’t know that you can figure it out by listening to “Good Mother.” Lambring, who’s tackled partner abuse, body dysmorphia, queerness, and rejecting the Evangelical teachings she was raised with, doesn’t shy away from the conflicts and ironies of parenthood. Brace yourselves because this is sure the first in a one-two punch later in the year from Lambring.
Pablo Mercedes — “Honey & Cherry”
British folk punker Pablo Mercedes is back with “Honey & Cherry.” The raucous off-kilter song reminds us that country music is as much about the partying — even sad, dejected, probably toxic partying. Mercedes’ gritty tale lives in the gutter, but you’ll have a good time while you’re wallowing.
Alice Di Micile — “Chinook Blues”
It’s not easy being salmon pink (or I guess blue-green) but Alice Di Micile makes it all into a party in “Chinook Blues.” This funky exploration told from the perspective of a chinook salmon decries environmental despoliation even as it’ll have you tapping your feet, reminding us that our wants and needs aren’t so different than those of our non-sentient neighbors. One thing humans have on fish, though, is Di Micile’s epic pipes.