Rainbow Ruckus 7/1: Chris Housman, thisdogllhunt, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, and More!

This week's Rainbow Ruckus features self-love, pop country impulsivity, cowmen, running engines, sun-drenched trans defiance, and self-actualization.

Rainbow Ruckus 7/1: Chris Housman, thisdogllhunt, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, and More!

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Every week, Rainbow Rodeo brings you the best new queer country music! Listen to this playlist on Tidal! Thanks to Elliott for making a parallel list on Apple Music! Missed a week? TA Inskeep is generously keeping an archive of all music featured on this Spotify playlist.

Please note: we are no longer updating our Spotify playlist.

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  • JB Somers gifts us with his reimagined (or "realigned") version of "Love Myself" from last year's EP Love, Myself. Somers' voice is soulful with a delicate quality that is anything but fragile – and Nashville is taking notice. Morgxn and Somers dueted on Somers' gorgeous song "Real Man" on Morgxn's latest Heartland (Deluxe). He's had his radio debut on WSM Radio’s On Air With Eryn, an appearance on ACME Radio Live’s Notable Nashville, a live performance with Morgxn during Tin Pan South, and features on WSMV Channel 4’s Today in Nashville and That Nashville Girl podcast.
  • Bella Lam puts the pop in pop country with "Bootfirst," a swaggering celebration of never – ever – pausing to doubt yourself. Lam's delivery gives Carly Rae and Taylor Swift, while the twangy guitars give the song some earthy common sense.
  • Chris Housman refuses to quit churning out impossibly good pop country. Housman plays off the cowboy/cowman conceit with a fascinating combination of pinache and sincerity. This is a song made for line-dancing, celebrating those of us who have been around the block before and are willing to commit to our feelings – helps if they're tall and burly, though.
  • I wish I understood why there's such little overlap between queer country and punk-driven alt-country, but the artists we do get to claim are exceptional. thisdogllhunt, out of Washington DC, is electrifying in every sense of the word. "engines running" is awash in the glow of warm, sun-faded guitars – even as it pulses with trans defiance. I look forward to whatever Bailey Payne brings us next.
  • Just in case you need a song to really make your Pride hangover buzz, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh's got a heartbreaker that is as cutting as it is confident. Tranbaugh has never sounded better, in full control of her singing and literary voice. "When Our Timing's Right" skewers all the excuses we make for ourselves – asking us why we put of all the really important things when we could have what we want right now.

Find our Tidal playlist here: