What's Next for Rainbow Rodeo
Our weekly recap features an updated on the future of Rainbow Rodeo, interviews with Country Risque, Lindsay Everly, Shannon Vetter, and our editor's picks for the best queer country of the week.
As we limp towards the end of the 2026, this little field needs to lie fallow for a while.
I've been writing about music for almost 15 years, launching Adobe & Teardrops and then, in 2019, hatching the idea for Rainbow Rodeo. (2020 was a great year to start something new, lol.) This was always supposed to be a zine, but with the core of us Country Queer writers leaving, it was clear that there still needed to be some kind of online presence for queer country music. I've been trying to do both, and also a podcast because I think those are fun to make. Unlike Country Queer did, I believe in paying people for their time and labor, and with the fundraiser falling short, that means I have still been doing the bulk of the labor.
I'm not going to pretend that music journalism is backbreaking work or even a noble calling. But it does eat up a lot of time. With the music industry and the online media industry as precarious as they are, that leads to anxiety and, often, antisocial behavior.
The backbiting is real. The industry bullshit happens. I myself have been blacklisted by a certain music association and the publicist who represents it. (This is not paranoia; I was accidentally copied on an e-mail.) I have witnessed more than one person spiral into serious mental health crises because of the lack of opportunities in writing and music. I have received text messaged on evenings and weekends from publicists and artists asking for updates on covering their work.
The truth is, I've been feeling bummed out and frustrated for a long time. There were a few final straws for me, though:
- I ghosted on the project this past spring when my best friend died. I did the bare minimum, but I didn't say anything to the people waiting for me to write about their work. When I wrote a eulogy for him, two people wrote back with condolences...and then asked when I was going to cover their album/their client.
- As an experiment, I posted the intro to my essay about Americanafest as a series of Instagram slides to both the Rainbow Rodeo account and my personal-ish Adobe & Teardrops account. Both posts drew thousands of views, the most comments of anything I've written...and no interest in reading the rest of it. A common refrain is "why don't you just uplift the artists you like." I have been. For fifteen years. But nobody reads those posts.
- My Kickstarter campaign stalling out, making me realize how much I've neglected my own art; virtually all of the backers are family and friends. (It's funded now, though, and I'm only $30 away from the stretch goal wink wink.)
This has been a clusterfuck of a year. I have attended funerals and memorial services on a quarterly basis. I have faced a number of professional setbacks – not in terms of writing, but my actual job and the career I would like to be moving into. Actually, my writing is the only thing going "well" by external factors: I have an essay in the upcoming Midwest Calling anthology, and I am honored to have been invited to contribute to a pre-eminent academic journal for LGBTQIA+ studies. The three bookstores that stock Rainbow Rodeo can't keep it on the shelves.
(Incidentally, the zine was intended to be distributed by artists taking it on the road and selling it as merch, creating both an alternate income stream and a means of building up the community we all say we want. But after so many polite rejections, I've given up on asking.)
I can't help but feel a sense of loathing when I sit down to churn out another article. It's not the music!!! But my own feeling about the task, and the feeling that I've run out of words.
I have tried so many times to figure out how to make this sustainable, how to shovel my way out of my inbox, how to find the spark. It's not just here, but this is where I have the most control.
There is clearly a need for Rainbow Rodeo, but ironically, I don't think that place is on the Internet, and maybe it doesn't need to be a blog with a regular update schedule. But even if I try – just one more time – to reinvent it, sustainable is not the same thing as enjoyable.
Rainbow Rodeo will be on hiatus from January - March 2027. Rainbow Rodeo will continue to update through the end of December. If you are a paid subscriber, I will continue to collect your subscriptions in November and December to compensate writers for their work. I will pause those collections on January 1.
I will still write the Queer Country column on No Depression, but I will not be entertaining pitches for album reviews, premieres, or interviews.
I'm going to take some time off to see what, if anything, I miss about doing this.
And, after 15 years of processing other peoples' art, I want to see what I can make by devoting more time to my own.
Rainbow Rodeo Vol. 7
Buy it here!
And Now...A Word From Our Sponsor
It's me again! Get a cool pin, your face in a comic, signed copies, and more over at the Kickstarter! You can keep Rainbow Rodeo going when you advertise with us!
This Week on Rainbow Rodeo
Rachel Cholst
Rachel Cholst
Rachel Cholst
Rachel Cholst
Rachel Cholst
Rainbow Roundup
- The BBC edited out two contestants' trans pride pins on College Bowl – just another fun reminder of how the world really thinks of us
- Our condolences to the Vandoliers for the loss of their founding member Guyton Sanders
- In a recent video, writer Gabrielle Siegal asks: can country music take down MAGA? (We here at Rainbow Rodeo know the answer: yes.)
- I'm not crazy! Sophia French asks if "microblogging" (ie, newsletters) is the way of the future for visual artists for Plaster Magazine. (But whatever you do, do not start a Substack. Pick a platform that won't uplift white supremacists please!)
- Margo Cilker and ISMAY have launched their very own Fossil Records, and it has a killer lineup
- Last week I wrote about Meta's use of AI co-opting the content you post. This user seems to have figured out the many, many steps of blocking those AI permissions...if you're in Europe
Fundraisers
- Robert Bock is finally recording that damn album of his and I'm so excited to have it in my hands so help me out by contributing (you'll need to hover over the images – I got a little confused at first)
- So many of the artists we feature here rely on shows like Mountain Stage and Tiny Desk to get the word out. If, like me, you live in a major city with a large donor base, your station is probably fine. So maybe adopt a station that's had more than 70% of its budget slashed? I'm choosing Allegheny Mountain Radio just because it fits the theme.
- Kamara Thomas, who is a co-organizer of Southern Soul Songbook, needs support as she recovers from Stage 3 breast cancer
- Color Me Country is seeking to raise $202,000 to support BIPOC artists with travel grants and more. Donate here.
- Musician Holly Lerski is only $20 away from hitting her GoFundMe goal; she lost her home studio and guitars to an errant tree branch.
Need a Protest Song Mixed?
Artist and Rainbow Rodeo contributor Arend Lee Jessurun has this offer for artists:
I'm looking to get back into the production/mixing/mastering game since a bit of a hiatus for health. I'm starting to better manage my energy with fibromyalgia, and I'm a bit antsy to do more of the work I love. And I'd especially love to work with other queers!
Also, if you've got protest music for these times, I'd love to produce, mix, and/or master it for cheap, even for free if I can swing it. If you're unfamiliar with my work and studio, check it out here.
Events
I make this list by scrolling through Instagram and Threads (and occasionally Bluesky when you all post there.) Feel free to send me events by replying to this e-mail!
- 9/20 - 11/8 (Pennsylvania and Connecticut) – Brittany Ann Tranbaugh takes the show on the road – but mostly sticks close to home – this fall
- 10/31 (Durham, NC) – Amelia Riggs and her new band play Sleepyfest
- 11/5 (Cambridge, MA) – Jessye DeSilva has a single release show at the Lizard Lounge
- 11/7 (Clarksdale, MS) – Launch of the Rosetta Records Project, celebrating jazz and blues by women from the 1920s - 1950s
- 11/6 - 11/8 (Richmond, VA) – The lineup for Queer As Folk Fest includes some real heavy hitters. I can take Amtrak there, right?
- 11/21 (New York, NY) – Brian Falduto has a Residency Encore and EP Release Show @ The Green Room 42 (Tickets here!)
- 12/5 (Sacramento, CA) – Autumn Sky Hall, Eli Conley Quartet, and Chaps – all Rainbow Rodeo faves – play Two Rivers Cider
- 12/11 (Newport, TN) – Housewarm the new Four Quarters Records HQ for Adeem the Artist's release party! Tickets here
Artist Resources
- Deadline 10/31: Attention Australian artists who are not cis men! Apply for a ToneShift microgrant for studio equipment and space here!
- Opening 11/1: Apply to play Toronto Pride
- List your queer New York City-based events in Groove
- UK artist Pearl Does Country wants to feature your music on his new internet radio show!
- Lovequeers wants to feature trans/gnc/nonbinary artists! More info here
- The Songbird Radio Show wants your music
- Someone from Threads is soliciting Queer music of all genres for her podcast
- The Wild Honey Pie is looking for YOUR folk music! (Think Western AF, but more twee.) Submit here
- The IndieBubble podcast network is soliciting country music submissions
- Radiofolk is soliciting folk/acoustic music
- Charted is soliciting music from female artists!
- Send in your music to this new alt-country radio station!
- What's a premiere and how do you pitch it?
- Got a release coming up? Add it to Country Everywhere’s newsletter! Country Everywhere is a directory of artists and news for queer, BIPOC, and disabled artists.
- With Bandcamp changing hands and union busting, here are some alternative resources for selling your music online
- Are you on BlueSky? Queer country artist 2 AM Wake Up Call created this feed of musicians. You can ask them to be added to the feed!
- I also made a Y’allternative Feed on Bluesky. Let me know if you’d like your posts to appear on the feed!
- We Are Moving the Needle is looking for women and non-binary audio engineers and music producers
- Eli Conley is teaching Unlock the Song Inside: Beginning Songwriting Class for Queer & Trans Folks & Allies, and he also offers an online LGBTQ+ songwriter circle!
- If you’re thinking of joining Mastodon, make an account on musician.social and read my tips for making Mastodon work for you!
- Once you do that, reach out to Moonshine Brigade to get added to their Americana and country music starter pack.
- Nice Hearing About Music highlights artists on the Fediverse - check them out and make sure they know about you!
- Submit your music and events to The Q LGBTQ Creative Network
- This Twitter thread has a whole list of places to find jobs in the music industry
- And here’s a list of resources for “women” entering the music industry — presumably they also encourage nonbinary participants
- Submit your profile to the Country Everywhere which seeks to unite BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists and professionals
- Sign up to the Black Opry Revue’s interest form!
- Check out the weekly Queerfolk Fest show in Nashville
Sign up below to get a weekly newsletter like this one!
