Comments on The New Gay: Queers in Music

Daniel Cartier is a gay singer/songwriter. He's v...

2008-05-13T10:56:00.000-04:00

Daniel Cartier is a gay singer/songwriter. He's very talented.

I can't believe you didn't mention The Hidden Came...

2008-04-08T04:57:00.000-04:00

I can't believe you didn't mention The Hidden Cameras.

Yeah, there are actually a lot of amazing gay musi...

2008-03-24T15:05:00.000-04:00

Yeah, there are actually a lot of amazing gay musicians not listed here who sing bravely without cloking their sexuality.

One of my all time favorites is Robert German. He's sort of a cross between ani difranco and Louis Armstrong and actually sings very openly about sexuality without beating you over the head.

There are also...Eric Himan, Jay Brannen, Levi Kreis and ivri lider to name a few.

missing from the list...jón þor (jónsi) birgisson ...

2007-12-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

missing from the list...

jón þor (jónsi) birgisson of sigur rós

and then there are bands (particularly from canada) that sing about gay life (i.e. broken social scene's "i'm still your fag"). the phenomenon is noticeable enough to have guaranteed a blurb in the village voice at one point (http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0335,phillips,46536,22.html)

OK, that link didn't fit, but check out our interv...

2007-12-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

OK, that link didn't fit, but check out our interview with her. Click on the interview label on the right side of our home page, she's down toward the bottom.

Adam, check this out:http://www.thenewgay.net/2007...

2007-12-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

Adam, check this out:

http://www.thenewgay.net/2007/10/blows-khaela-maricich-new-gay-interview.html

well to be fair, who listens to rufus wainwright a...

2007-12-08T12:06:00.000-05:00

well to be fair, who listens to rufus wainwright at the gym.

and that chick from the blow is gay? really?

Don't forget Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks, Greg S...

2007-12-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Don't forget Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks, Greg Sage of the Wipers, Darby Crash of the Germs, Pat Smear...etc.

We also owe a large debt to straight supporters in music, particulary the straight males, people like Kurt Cobain and Ian MacKaye did a lot to help eradicate homophobia in rock music and thus in a segment of the population.

And who could forget the Dandy Warhols and the Que...

2007-12-07T13:48:00.000-05:00

And who could forget the Dandy Warhols and the Queers.

But, seriously? I'm all for supporting queer artists when I like them, but the sexuality of a musician is pretty irrelevent to how good of an artist they are. Gays shouldn't stop listening to brittney because she's straight, but because her music sucks.

I don't think gays "eschew" gay artists, it's just that mainstream gay culture, like mainstream pop culture, is pretty crappy. Some of the queers you mention have had great popular success (Erasure, Queen, Elton John, REM...) and others great indie success (Rufus, the Breeders, Steven Merritt, Sleater-Kinney...). And they've all done it with the support of gay AND straight audiences. Because they're good musicians.

I just fail to see why sexuality is an important factor in what is essentially an "I hate pop music" argument.

It's very different with the lesbians I know. I've...

2007-12-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

It's very different with the lesbians I know. I've always listened to a lot of lesbian musicians, and I learned about many of them from other lesbians' recommendations.

Other gay favorites not mentioned in this post: Catie Curtis, The Cliks, The Blow, Mirah, The Ditty Bops, Chris Pureka, Erin McKeown, and Brandi Carlile.