Country Queer

Lifting up LGBTQ+ voices in country and Americana.

Buried Treasure, January 16

Kerr Griffin, Hardened & Tempered, Caleb Haynes, and Jack Nathan Harding

By Adeem Bingham, Buried Treasure Editor

Jack Nathan Harding

Hey y’all,

Been a hell of a year! Hopefully you’re all staying safe and doing a good job of protecting your energy. Personally, I’ve been trying my best to avoid the news cycle as everything spirals increasingly out of control. Here’s to finding a little space to feel all of the real feelings that did not go away with the adjustment to a new calendar year.

And here’s to plenty of new music on the horizon to help give language to all of those unspeakable things. I’ve got some oldies this week but a new single from Hardened & Tempered that absolutely floored me. 

Drink a lot of water and be gentle with yourselves,

—Adeem

Kerr Griffin

Kerr Griffin is a trans singer-songwriter from New England with a folk-rock sound and an affinity for whiskey and cats. His newest single came out in August of 2020 so I’m admittedly late to this party but nonetheless, I’m here! “Bourbon + Brass” is a song about the painful ways that relationships can devolve, about intimacy fading into distance. “Who’s that stranger in your eyes? / It’s someone I don’t recognize” Stream now on Bandcamp.

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Hardened & Tempered

Kristin Davidson and Carolyn Phillips make up Hardened & Tempered; blending their voices perfectly to tell red dirt stories of exquisite anguish. Their new album is a tantalizing collection of poetic lyrics framed by a crisp and ambient production. “Beer Bottles and Broken Hearts” is my favorite song on the collection. The horns on this track feel like they’re just wrapping me up in a swaddle. 

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Caleb Haynes

Caleb is a queer songwriter based out of Nashville, TN. His sound is a blending of modern indie-folk with pop sensibilities. One glance at his twitter account will inform any reader of his great affection for Taylor Swift. He has a new EP coming out in February that I’ve had a sneaky listen to and it is absolutely beautiful. However, I wanted to tease it with this lovely single from 2019 that illustrates his wield over the emotion of language. He’s also my brother. Nepotism, am I right?

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Jack Nathan Harding

If you aren’t familiar with Jack, then this is a particularly fun way to be introduced. His video is full of humor and whimsy, silly and sexy in equal parts. His new single “Sweet Stuff” is a pop-country song with a quick upright, laid back banjo riff, and lazy rapping. The video is a real treat so check it out!

“Buried Treasure” is your bi-weekly guide to under-the-radar queer artists in country, Americana, and folk. Know an artist who should be included? Contact us!