By labeling a performer “Queer Country,” you’re not breaking down barriers, you’re erecting them with country music’s more conventional and conservative fans.
As we look back on 2022 and before we look forward to 2023, it’s important we take the time to pay tribute to the important individuals in country music who left us over the last year, and who left a mark on the country and roots music world that will never fade. 2022 saw some absolute titans of the music leave us.
It’s always exciting when one of your favorite country artists like Dwight Yoakam, Alan Jackson, or Sturgill Simpson decides to cut a bluegrass album. It’s pretty rare to have a bluegrass outfit decide to flip the script and make a country album. But that’s exactly what long-time bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent have decided to do.
If you were writing a detailed history on country music, compiling a timeline of significant moments in the genre, or a list of firsts experienced over the years, you would be remiss if you did not at least give mention to Patrick Haggerty and his band Lavender Country.
Most certainly, country music has always been a bastion for more conservative and traditional viewpoints, for the most part. But there has always been exceptions and counter-balances within that narrative, expressing a lot more open-mindedness in the industry.