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.
Joh Chase — “Risking It With You”
Joh Chase once again expresses love’s insecurities with charming aplomb on “Risking It With You,” their latest single from Kill Rock Stars. The song envisions unlikely scenarios that would cause their lover to leave — like developing a relationship with someone in group therapy — but the charming folk song resolves with Chase determining to give it a shot anyway. Chase’s music has a beguiling edge, giving this song a certain folk punk flair.
Jenny Owen Youngs — “It’s Later Than You Think”
Jenny Owen Youngs’ upcoming album Avalanche (Yep Roc Records, 9/22) comes at the end of a particularly brutal period for Youngs: divorce, recovery, lockdown. “It’s Later Than You Think” is a warm, catchy folk rocker with a dire warning: doomscrolling is just a timesuck on a beautiful planet with the only time on it that we know we’ve got for sure. Youngs encourages us to make the most of what we’ve got, and to choose joy.
Lizzy Lehman — “Technicolor Love”
Austin’s Lizzy Lehman marks her return to solo music with “Technicolor Love.” It might be a bit poppier than Lehman’s previous folk output, but it shares her singular lyricism. The driving beat and synth flourishes illustrate one thing: Lehman’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and its power to save us all. Lehman builds drama — and gives us an exuberant payoff.
Shadwick Wilde — “Floating Away”
Shadwick Wilde continues to explore the union between his folk roots and recent explorations into art pop with his band The Quiet Hollers. (PS — rumor has it he’ll be slinging some copies of Rainbow Rodeo at his upcoming dates in Baltimore, Ohio, New Orleans, and Texas and more.) Wilde brings almost operatic vocals to “Floating Away,” a soft protest against mortality’s crule interruption of love.
Izzy Heltai — “Bad Time”
Izzy Heltai’s characteristic confessional folk pop rides again on “Bad Time.” Heltai covers the brutal ending of a relationship that’s one-sided. It finds Heltai laid up with a broken hip, forced to rely on others in a way he’s never had to before, and unable to release his anxiety through his usual movement-based outlets. The song is as much a release as it is a comfort to anyone who is similarly been disappointed by people they wish they could rely on.
Autumn Nicholas — “Made Yet”
Nashville’s Autumn Nicholas continues to blow us away with her powerhouse vocals and lyrics that devastate with sniper accuracy. “Made Yet” dwells on the mistakes that have yet to come. It’s a beautiful wish for peace and acceptance that we’re not perfect, no matter how much we wish we could be. Nicholas brings grace and resolve to her impossible wish to make things go smoothly, even though the rough parts of life are what help us learn.
Lydia Loveless — “Sex & Money”
Loveless made a name for themselves with a witty country song about their parasocial relationship with Steve Earle. It’s no surprise that Loveless has turned that acerbic humor on to celebrity culture. The breezy pop of “Sex & Money” is equal parts buoyant and discordant, a sour note that encapsulates Loveless’ world view while also displaying her supreme confidence.