Queer Americana Artists Take On MAGA Country Music

From my perch in Queerlandia, country music looks like the domain of problematic white men who drink beer and like to hunt. Even when it’s not actively racist, misogynistic, homophobic or nationalist, it still somehow has a whiff of MAGA about it. Last year’s Country Music Association Awards did little to shift the genre’s image. Not only did they snub Queen Bey, but even Shaboozey’s nomination was called out for its performativity.

But change is inevitable; there’s a rebellious counternarrative emerging in popular country music, and queer Americana artists are leading the charge.

“Americana has been a refuge for both folk and country musicians who sit outside of the perceived sounds, genres, cultures, genders, and races of what we perceive country and folk music to be,” says Joy Oladokun, a musician in Nashville, Tennessee. For those who aren’t familiar, “Americana” is an umbrella term for music that includes country, folk, soul, blues, gospel and rock.

“I think we’re the troublemakers,” Oladokun laughs. More seriously, she adds, these artists are “the people who want their music to have some sort of historical significance.” It’s not that Americana artists are striving for an exalted level of fame, Oladokun says. But they’re shaking up the country scene with their choices about whom they work with, what they talk about, and what they stick up for.

In the case of queer Americana musicians, they’re disrupting everything by simply being unapologetically themselves. “Americana music is diverse and more reflective of America, which looks much different than just a straight, white guy in a truck drinking beer with a hot girlfriend,” says Crys Matthews, a musician in Nashville.

As you might imagine, if even Bey is getting treated as an outsider by the CMAs, lesser-known queer Americana artists have to fight hard for recognition within both country music culture and a larger political landscape that’s only growing more repressive and terrifying.

“We don’t always get the benefit of decades-long relationships. We can often be last on the list of people to consider for show lineups,” says Lilli Lewis, a musician in Bush, Louisiana.

Lewis says some of the more progressive labels ― such as Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, on which she has recorded ― are actively nurturing queer Americana…