Contents:
- QUEER COUNTRY: LBIAN AND GAY MASTREAM COUNTRY ARTISTS? (BOOK EXCERPT)
- CHELY WRIGHT OPENS UP ABOUT BEG A GAY, CHRISTIAN COUNTRY SGER
QUEER COUNTRY: LBIAN AND GAY MASTREAM COUNTRY ARTISTS? (BOOK EXCERPT)
The chos even exprs acceptance of weed and homosexualy, topics that are unfortunately still taboo mastream untry, pecially when sung by a woman. In a 2014 Guardian terview celebratg Paradise of Bachelors’ reissue of Patrick Haggerty’s 1973 out gay untry album, Wright said that she doubted that eher the world or Nashville was ready for the lyrics Haggerty’s album or for an artist to e out at age neteen, which she said would be “idtic.
I wouldn’t ll the dtry homophobic, but they’re aaid of the fear lots of fans have about gay people. Her fellow out gay mastream untry mician peer Ty Herndon’s style is firmly pop untry, and although he was outed by arrt 1995, he had three number 1 untry songs between 1995 and 2000. Out gay untry artist and award wng songwrer Shane McAnally was most ank, sharg the sort of stage banter that’s entirely typil of other queer and trans untry micians at other shows but that was surprisgly rare this ncert.
This album led to major attentn, cludg an vatn to play at the Newport Folk Ftival and a Gay and Lbian Mic Award for Bt Country Artist of the Year.
CHELY WRIGHT OPENS UP ABOUT BEG A GAY, CHRISTIAN COUNTRY SGER
Gthier’s songs have been featured the untry mic dtry–themed HBO drama Nashville, although her mic, cludg her most recent album, Rifl and Rosary Beads, wrten wh US war veterans, is more often nomated for awards folk (where won the 2018 Album of the Year at the Internatnal Folk Mic Awards) and Amerina mic (where was nomated for 2018 Album of the Year by the Amerina Mic Associatn) than untry (the Gay and Lbian Amerin Mic Awards, awardg her a prize 1998, regnized her as “untry”).