Rainbow Ruckus: 5/9
If you’ve been following our playlist on Spotify, then you already know we love rounding up the best new queer country of the week! Now that we can stretch our legs out on a nice blog, we’re excited to tell you why we love the songs we love. Without further ado, here are 5 of the best new queer country songs from the past week!
Jessye DeSilva — “Proud and Lonely”
We already told you how great this song is, but here’s a reminder if you missed it. DeSilva‘s newest single conveys the curious mixture of excitement and melancholy of coming out in a hostile world. Here, Jessye reminds us that it’s okay not to be okay, with Cecilia Vacanti’s violin and Alex Calabrese’s heartfelt vocals bringing us home.
Brittany Ann Tranbaugh — “Pennsylvania”
Philadelphian Brittany Ann Tranbaugh decided this would be the year to take her wry folk rock music full-time, and she’s been churning out songs every couple of months. It’s one of the rare occasions when quantity matches quality. On the wistful “Pennsylvania,” Tranbaugh reckons with the love of her home state and it’s Pennsyltucky reputation.
Eli Conley — “Hey That’s Me”
After reckoning with his own health issues and successfully Kickstarting his upcoming album, Eli Conley is back with more soulful folk music. “Hey That’s Me” is for anyone who is ready to confront their gender dysphoria and, more importantly, make friends with their body — no matter what changes it may go through. We’ll hear more about the song and what Eli’s been up to later this week, so stay tuned! Conley’s album Searching For What’s True will be out on June 2nd.
Jude Brothers — “torch bare/the boss!”
Rainbow Rodeo would not exist with Jude Brothers. They printed the physical copies of issue 1 of the Rainbow Rodeo zine (now available electronically!) We’re so thrilled to feature the music they made shortly after that. A breakup, a change of scenery, newfound clarity: it’s a common back story for an album, but render tender / blunder sunder is an uncommon album. It’ll be out this Friday, but you can preview Brothers’ unique approach to folk music now. (The video premiered on our sister site, Adobe & Teardrops, where you can read an in-depth interview with Brothers.)
Jobi Riccio — “Whiplash”
Jobi Riccio reels from life’s sudden transitions on the title track of her upcoming album. We spoke with Riccio earlier today about her influences and Whiplash, out in September. In the interview, Riccio cited Joni Mitchell as an important artist and it’s easy to see Mitchell’s presence in this carefully-observed mediation between the outside world and Riccio’s inner life.
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.
