STAND BY YOUR MAN
Country music queens.
Country music is getting a gay shakedown with two former DNA cover guys – Steve Grand and Josey Greenwell – leading the charge. Marc Andrews reports.
Country music has never been a welcoming home for openly gay and lesbian artists. Kd Lang found this out the hard way and turned to pop music after three critically acclaimed (but country radio shunned) albums. Nowadays, with Taylor Swift managing to keep one boot in the country camp and another pump in pop music without causing a homestead ruckus, there’s a burgeoning offshoot called “alt-country”. That’s “alt” for alternative, which is a nice way of saying you’re more progressive than the rednecks of old.
There are now inroads being made into the straight-only preserve of country music. Leading the charge are corking spunk Josey Greenwell and all-American hunk Steve Grand. Described as an indie gay country song, Grand’s All-American Boy has done, according to The Huffington Post, “what many thought would be near impossible – make a country star out of an openly gay singer/songwriter.”
You may recall that such is Grand’s overall gorgeousness, he once graced the cover of DNA. And not only is he openly gay, he kisses a man in his country music video. “I’m laying it out there. I’m done playing it safe,” says Grand. “Time to be brave. This is the story I’ve been aching to tell most of my life. The universal story of longing to be loved.”
Born in Illinois, the 23-year-old is now celebrated on no less a source than Wikipedia as “the first openly gay male country singer to attract mainstream attention.” Now there’s a real claim to fame (although slightly incorrect).
Back when he was model Steve Chatham (the name he used when he covered DNA), Grand was also working hard on breaking into the music business. He made money as a covers singer, going by the name of Steve Starchild to fund his future. Then came All-American Boy, with its $7,000 video, which maxed out his credit card. No sooner was it online than it went viral, especially after Lance Bass tweeted to his followers that they needed to check out the video, calling it “a new era for US pop music”. The video sailed past one million views on YouTube and he was interviewed on Good Morning America discussing how his parents forced him into ‘ex-gay’ conversion therapy.
His parents have now changed their tune, with Grand’s mother telling him how proud she is of him and his music. “You’re touching so many people,” she told him after he poured his heart out live on national TV. “And I love you so much and I am proud of you.”
As for that ex-gay conversion therapy, Grand says that at the time he felt “ashamed and there was no way I could made my parents proud and I was a constant disappointment.”
Now off the success of All-American Boy, he has created a huge buzz in the industry and one he hopes will lead to even bigger and better things.
While Grand has been capturing all the gay country music headlines of late, hot blond Josey Greenwell (another former DNA cover star) has also been making serious inroads into the country music arena. The 25-year-old from Kentucky was originally signed to an independent country record label in Nashville, but when they discovered he was gay they dropped him. Instead of accepting defeat, Greenwell distributed his album, My Life On The Radio, online by himself. He also created a YouTube channel, JoseyTV, and after his DNA cover grabbed plenty of attention, Greenwell released his debut pop single Stuck In My Head with a full album due to drop any day now.
Surprisingly, an Australian country singer has been his biggest influence – Mr Nicole Kidman himself, Keith Urban. “He has been a huge influence on me, especially in my earlier years as a teenage country musician,” says Greenwell. “Growing up listening to his writing style and delivery of his vocals taught me a lot about how I wanted to write and sing.”
While Greenwell is fully aware that his hotness can distract from his music, he believes that in the end it’s not his looks, but the quality of his music that will win people over. “Most of the time it doesn’t bother me,” he states. “I will say though that with this upcoming album, people will definitely be focusing on the music. It’s too different not to!”
If it doesn’t work out for Greenwell in the big bad world of the music business, he can always head back home to Kentucky. “My family runs a funeral business,” he laughs. “So if I weren’t doing music I would probably take that over.” Let’s hope that’s not going to be the case – country music needs more gay men like Greenwell and Grand to blaze some seriously boot-scootin’ trails.
More: joseygreenwell.com and stevegrand.bandcamp.com
This is the story I’ve been aching to tell most of my life. The universal story of longing to be loved.