Is there anything gayer than the Catholic Church?
Don’t answer that — but rebelling against years of indoctrination has been a compelling subject for decades of queer artists, and Creekbed Carter Hogan brings some country flair to his.
“When I perform “The Relic Song” in public, I always preface it with: ‘Everything I’m about to sing is entirely true,'” he explains. “This is, of course, a truth and a lie – narrativizing history is never objective, and in this song alone I combine like 4 centuries of Catholic folk knowledge and throw in a little folk music history to boot – and therein lies the entire thesis of the song itself. This is my weirdest track on the record. It doesn’t have half the band you’d think would be here; it’s just me, my guitar, and Jeff Johnston on juice harp.”
Hogan’s critiques pull in capitalism and colonialism — and a little bit of Roger Miller-style fast-talking, into this springy protest song. The video, directed by Adeliza Backus-Pace, enabled Hogan to pull in all of his friends and get creative with a hand-painted nudie suit designed by their friend Jammy Violet.
Since his debut in April 2021, Creekbed Carter Hogan has quickly garnered the attention and support of folk fans far and wide. In addition to touring nationally with other queer artists and playing locally at some of the most loved venues in Austin, their work has received generous support this year from both New Music USA and Bluegrass Pride. They’ve been lucky enough to grace the Moontower stage at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2021 and 2023, as well as the final Honkeytonk Hodge Podge Fest out in Cold Beer, NM (2023). His Tiny Desk Contest submission was featured as a Desk of the Day on NPR in 2021, and his debut album Good St Riddance, which he self-released in the height of the pandemic, has become a sleeper hit with folk enthusiasts and queer audiences alike. As if that’s not enough, they published their debut book of short stories under the name Carter St Hogan with 11:11 Press in Spring 2023.
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