Rainbow Ruckus 3/26: Aaron Lee Tasjan, Shawna Virago, Jessye DeSilva & More!
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, you can now purchase issue 3 of Rainbow Rodeo, the world’s first queer country zine!
Amanda Fields and Megan McCormick — “Wild As a Flower”
Time travel back to the ’60s with Amanda Fields’ and Megan McCormick’s charming “Wild as a Flower.” With nested harmonies, lilting guitars, and a commanding pedal steel guitar, “Wild a Flower” sounds like it’s come from another time. This lovely — but cautionary — song of romance and its fleeting nature will carry you away.
Shawna Virago — “The Barman’s Daughter”
Trans Americana icon Shawna Virago cranks out some rockin’ cowpunk on her latest single, “The Barman’s Daughter.” Virago is a pioneer of the queer country scene, and with “Barman’s Daughter” she shows us all what it takes to tough it out in the music biz: confidence, fundamental knowledge of yourself, and a fuckin’ blistering guitar. Part garage rock, part cowpunk, “Barman’s Daughter” is a banger no matter how you slice it.
Aaron Lee Tasjan — “Dylan Shades”
Aaron Lee Tasjan is about to unleash a powerful album upon us…but until then, we will have to content ourselves with his latest single, “Dylan Shades.” The song finds Tasjan exploring the edges of synth pop with this tender love song for someone who could use it. Tasjan’s vocals reach an expressive height that he hasn’t tapped into in some time — a nod to his glam rock past, Americana present, and a future that represents something totally new and uniquely his.
Pillow Queens — “Like a Lesson”
Are they country? Who cares. Irish indie rock band Pillow Queens have only gotten better and better at cutting your heart to the quick. “Like a Lesson” is a gentle lullaby of evisceration, as the band guides us through a conversation about dating someone who should be treating us better. It’s a shitty — and all-too-familiar — position to be in…and it never sounded so good.
Jessye DeSilva — “Gallows Tree”
So nice, we’re featuring it twice. Jessye DeSilva packs a punch on this folk-rock song about unearthing inter-generational trauma. She hits the nail on the head with her examination of the ways these silences pervade our everyday life and will haunt us until they’re given our due. Whether these silences stem from personal trauma, or the political forces that shroud our lives in white supremacist logic, they damage us all nonetheless. You can help make the rest of this album get made on DeSilva’s GoFundMe.
