Howdy, cowpokes!
Rainbow Rodeo is your queer country website. The project began as a zine, evolved into a podcast, then a newsletter, and now we’re here. You can read more about the site’s history in the About section.
A lot of people say queer people and country music don’t mix. A lot of rich people in Nashville want you to feel that way. But nobody should have to feel isolated for being who they are. And everyone loves gay cowboys.
Rainbow Rodeo aims to cover the queer country world from bottom to top. There are lots of queer artists breaking through into the mainstream, but queer country has always been about scruff and struggle, defying the mainstream and going our own way. It’s as punk rock as anything. Karen Pittelman of Karen and the Sorrows explains this in her Queer Country Manifesto, originally published in issue 1 of our zine.
Whether you’re recording in your bedroom, touring in a rented 16-passenger van, or playing arenas, your work belongs here. Send us your music! (Plus, you can help spread the word of queer country by buying the zine in bulk and selling it as merch!)
But Rainbow Rodeo is just as much for fans as it is for the artists. We invite you to write for the site — and get paid! Pitch your ideas here. This isn’t just about empowering the fan community, it’s also about helping you get your name out there so that, if you want to, you can advocate for queer country artists in mainstream media publications.
Above all, this site is by us and for us. We’re not here to sell t-shirts. We’re here to highlight the diversity of the community and to help it grow even more.
You can stay up-to-date with Rainbow Rodeo when you subscribe to the weekly newsletter! And you can support the project by subscribing to our Patreon, which gives you early access to our monthly podcast, the zine, and other goodies!
Happy trails — hope you ride alongside us for a while.
— Rachel