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Lifting up LGBTQ+ voices in country and Americana.

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Preview: Mariel Buckley & Paisley Fields on Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly

Image Courtesy of Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly on Apple Music Country

The upcoming episode of Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly, which premieres this Sunday, September 4, features two CQ favorites—and we’ve got an advance taste for you! Singer-songwriter, Mariel Buckley joins Hunter to talk about growing as a person and becoming more confident as an artist. Plus, Paisley Fields joins the show for the third time to discuss his latest album, Limp Wrist.

Here are some key moments in the show…

Mariel Buckley on being confident in who she is and what she looks like as an artist

It’s so important to have that visibility. And I think I was so uncomfortable with it in the early stages of my career because you’re so afraid that that’s going to limit you, who’s going to listen to you. And because there is a mainstream quadrant that does do a good job of trying to keep some folks out of it, the older I got, the more I realized that it was more powerful for me to… It doesn’t have to be uncomfortable how much you want to show yourself, but I knew that I had to stand more confidently behind who I am and what I look like because there are so many people that are similar to us that need somebody to look.


Mariel Buckley on being inspired by k.d. lang on her song, “Whatever Helps You”

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HUNTER KELLY: What did k.d. say about you, that you were going places or something? I mean, holy sh-

MARIEL BUCKLEY: I know. I opened some shows for her and she closed one night and thanked me and said, “She’s going places.” And I was like, “Well, I can die and retire now.” So that was pretty cool.

HUNTER KELLY: You get to spend a lot of time on this song, on “Whatever Helps You.” And I mean, is there an influence from what k.d.’s done there?

MARIEL BUCKLEY: Totally. Yeah. It’s like, vocally, that’s exactly what I was aiming for is this kind of Roy Orbison, traditional, really croony, really traditional style of singing. The song is such a country song through and through, like the chord arrangement is like a fifties country song. But then we just turned it into a drum beat synth trap, which was really fun. So that was a lot of fun to make

Mariel Buckley on her experience growing up in a small town and writing “Hate This Town”

HUNTER KELLY: This song, you weren’t afraid to go there on this song.

MARIEL BUCKLEY: Yeah, I mean, I had to be. This one was a very easy to write because it felt like it just came out of me. Which, when that happens, I know that it’s important for me to… It’s probably one of my more honest attempts, and usually it’s a better song. And it was tough to write. There’s lots of people in my life still that are at where I grew up, and I still am very close to where I grew up, and close to my family, but there’s a lot of damage that can be done in that small town, Christian, everybody get along energy. It can be really damaging for a lot of kids. And I certainly think there are lots of amazing Christian folks doing super great things now, but I just wanted to speak to the experience that I think a lot of us relate to.

Paisley Fields on the inequalities that still exist in the LGBTQ community

HUNTER KELLY: I know there are so many kids out there still living out that song, “Iowa.”

PAISLEY FIELDS: Yeah, I think so too. And seeing these people protesting Drag Queen Story Hour. And there’s this sentiment of a lot of people saying, we achieved gay marriage so everything is equal now and don’t worry about it. But there is a lot of fear from people in our community. And I think, especially in rural areas where there isn’t an actual in-person connection with a lot of other queer people, I think it’s very easy to feel unsafe.

Paisley Fields on writing “Catch Me” about being closeted in high school

I love that song. I wrote that with Chris Housman, who’s a full songwriter here in Nashville. And we were just talking about what it was like going to these dances, and seeing that your girlfriend dancing with the hottest guy in school and being like, “Oh, my God, she’s so lucky. I wish I could be like that.” And we were thinking, “What’s the most basic Midwest football player name we could think of?” And Brett Baker was the name that came to mind.

Tune in this Sunday, September 4, at 2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET, or any time afterward at apple.co/_ProudRadio on Apple Music Country.

Media and quotes courtesy of ‘Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly’ on Apple Music Country.