“Do they know that guys are gays?”
Chappell Roan asked this question to the host of “TODAY's country” by Apple Music Radio program, Kelleigh Bannen. After the release of her latest single, “The Giver”, whom she describes as a “Lesbian country” Song, Roan spoke of the “camp” of the genre and the way in which the production of the song helped the self -proclaimed “midwest princess” to feel near his home. Driven by flamboyant violins and intelligent double hearings, it leaves a brand on the genre with its sapphic pop touch.
And to answer the initial question of Roan, there are country singers, both historical and contemporary, who most certainly recognize the queer possibilities of the genre. Although Roan is Guerrilla marketing style (where it is dressed in plumber, dentist, building worker, etc.) and Tik tok domination Seems rebellious for the feeling of a frank night, Country Queer music has continuously made waves since the 1930s.
There were early and breathtaking songs like “I Love My Fruit” by Sweet Violet Boys (1939) and “Lavender Cowboy” by Ewan Hail (1927). Wilma Burgess, in the 1960s, was considered one of the first “out” country singers. According to rumors, Burgess was in industry but not to the public. In 1973, Lavender country created a space for LGBTQ + stories in the genre with the first gay country album. Directed by Patrick Haggerty, the Seattle group brought the experiences of LGBTQ + people to the sounds of steel guitars and raped on songs like “Back in the Closet Again” and “Cryin 'these C – Sucking Tears” on their titled album.
Even in the past decade, more and more country music (or country adjacent sounds) by queer artists have resumed consumer music. Among them are the alternative sounds of Orville Peck masked at the fringe, of the “Old Town Road” of Trixie Mattel and even “Old Town Road” of Lil Nas X, which was n ° 1 Billboard's Hot 100 for a 19 -week record. TJ OSBORNE, member of the moving campaign brothers Osborne, also released in 2021 – making him one of the rare Openly gay artists have signed on a major label.
If you liked Roan's “The Giver” Twang Country-Pop, here are some country / Americaa / Folk artists who bring a sapphic feel to their Western sounds.
“Drag queens in limousines”, Mary Gauthier
As a folk predecessor of Roan's Hit “Pink Pony Club”, Mary Gauthier tells her own story to the age of age of the Southern Gaine. In the slow burn on the guitar, she says she hates high school and escaping from the city where she met “Drag Queens in limousines / religious in jeans / blue dreamers with great dreams”. Released in 1999, the song is one of Gauthier's many narrative ballads. Giving auditors a vulnerable overview of his lived experience, the 63 -year -old was the first openly gay artist to perform in the Grand Ole Opry.
“Don't touch me”, Wilma Burgess
The feeling of Nashville Wilma Burgess became famous at the time of Countrypolitan, a sub-genre which refers to the Crossover Pop for the country in the 1960s and 70s. At the height of the popularity of Burgess, Country music had passed from the exuberant sounds of a Honky-Tonk to be more influenced by the pace and the blues. On “Don't Touch me”, the singer of a walk in tears gives his lover a warning to fall in love with a dream composition. Although she did not go out with her fans or the public during her career, the majority of her songs are not specific to the gender – leaving room for listeners to interpret themselves. In the late 1980s, she also opened the first “Women's Only” bar in Nashville, The Hitchin 'Post.
“Abrave Constant”, KD LANG
Canadian singer-songwriter KD LANG released “Constant CRIVING” as single in 1992-the same year that she was gay Advocate magazine. With its folky and optimistic acoustics, the androgynous heart of the 90s captured the universal feelings of desire and desire. After the release of a Fair Vanity Taily Vanity cover shoot With Cindy Crawford, the successful song won a Grammy for Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1993. It is an essential hymn of Cowpunk-Y for Saphic desire.
“I'm not going to go down”, Amythyst Kiah with Billy Strings
Since his third album, “Still + Bright”, “I Will not Beb Down” by Amythyst Kiah takes listeners in the journey of a fantastic hero. Alongside the Bluegrass, the singer-guitarist Billy Strings, Kiah hammered in a message of resilience on a quick rhythm and on foot. She attended the Bluegrass program at the East Tennessee State University, where she Avoided discussing his sexuality with peers out of fear and devoted himself to crafts. In her music today, the singer nominated for Grammy Grammy uses her Twang Americana New Age to explore her spirituality.
“Sugar in the tank”, Julien Baker and Torres
In their next joint album, “Send a Prayer My Way”, Julien Baker de Boygenius and the independent singer Torres determine how their sound can exist in a country area. Their main single, “Sugar in the tank”, is an American track independent of Love – pushed by a steel pedal guitar. Born in Tennessee and Georgia, respectively, these alternative rockers set out to join the sounds that have raised them in the musicians they are today.
“If she never leaves me”, the Highwomen
Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires come together as the Highwomen Supergroup. “If she never leaves me”, Sung by Carlile, tells the story of what's going on when a cowboy looks at her partner in a bar. Song the chorus “If she ever leaves me / It will not be for you”, the group says to a typical country story but from a lesbian point of view. As an electric guitar Riffs in the background and that of Carlile, the advanced bridge, the highwomen unite their strengths, each bringing their perspectives and experiences to create a type of inclusive country music.
“Country radio”, Girls Indigo
Duo Folk-Rock Indigo Girls reminisses on their feelings by listening to Country radio as “gay gays in a small town”. In a traditional format of country narration, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers will fold the roles of gender and aspire to the representation of their local country radio station, by singing: “I want to be this boy, I want to be this girl / I want to know what it is to fall in love with most of the world of the world.” “Country Radio” offers the meaning of nostalgia for the heart on a choir full of hope of string instruments. For almost 40 years, singers “closer to the beautiful” have been pillars on the lesbian folk scene; They have 15 full albums.
“Breakdown”, Brandi Carlile
In 2007, Carlile released her second album, “The Story”, and she didn't look back. Over the past 20 years, the 43 -year -old singer has won 11 grammys and has become a familiar name in modern folk rock. “Broken Horses” shares a title with her memoirs and confronts her education and the marginalization that she has been confronted throughout her life. The song of his latest studio album, “In this Silent Days”, is a bluesy outcry that illustrates his talent for writing reflective songs.
