Welcome from the Publisher

Well, hello there.

This site is the result of a thought I had back in February. And that thought was this: “I’m a queer person who’s into country music. I bet there are lots more people like me, but I hardly know any of ’em. Is there something I can do to help us find each other, support each other, and let the world know that we exist? And maybe, just maybe, give the culture a shove in the right direction?”

And the answer was, why yes, Dale, there is something you can do. You were the designer at nodepression.com; you know folks who do web stuff and other folks who write and take pictures and other folks who play music. Why don’t you do an online magazine? And I was like, naw, man, that’s too much work, plus how will I pay for it? (For indeed it costs real money to run a decent online magazine.)

And this other voice was like, stop whining. And you can pay for it by selling ads and merch! And I was all, I don’t know anything about selling ads and merch and the voice was all “Jesus, man, figure it out!”

So, being lazy, I didn’t do anything for about two months. Then finally I did something really smart: I picked up the phone and called (yes, called!) Cindy Emch. I knew Cindy from a Peter Case songwriting workshop we took together years before, and she was the only queer country artist I knew personally. I told her my idea and she did not call me an idiot, which I took as a sign of encouragement.

Come to find out, there was already a queer country magazine, but it was languishing; its ownership had devolved to Cindy, and she asked me if I wanted to buy it, and I said yep. Best part: Cindy came with it.

So, not to bore you with the details, here we are.

And I just want to tell you a couple things. First of all, if you’re reading this (and you are), then I am your fan. I’m here to support you. Being a country queer can be tough, right? You might not always feel comfortable at a festival or a honky-tonk. But I’m telling you: you belong, just as much as anybody. And you deserve to enjoy the music you love without hiding who you are.

Here’s how we’re gonna do this: you let us know what you need in order to feel supported – what kind of articles, reviews, and interviews you want to read, what kind of merch you want to buy – and we’ll give it to you. And I just know that if we can keep doing this this for a little while, things will start to change.

Imagine that world!
love, Dale