34. Lavender Country
SEASON THREE FINALE!
This episode is a feature on the band Lavender Country, whose eponymous 1973 album was the world’s first gay-themed country record. Back then, if you weren’t part of the gay community, it was highly unlikely you would be hip to this record, but it was a game-changer for the initiated. The songs were culled from suggestions of members of the Stonewall movement, petitioning the band to sing about the issues that mattered most to them, as their band leader Patrick Haggerty told me:
“Write a song about being in the closet.” (Georgie Pie)
“Write a song about institutionalized oppression of homosexuals.” (Waltzing Will Trilogy)
“Write a song about sexual alienation.” (Stranger)
The group then disbanded in 1976, and Patrick devoted himself to raising his two children, all the while being a prominent voice in the gay rights movement. It was in this field of activism where he met his husband, J.B., who never even knew about his significant other’s music career until they had been together for three years! After being nothing more than an obscure memory for four decades, an interest arose after their music surfaced on YouTube. Times have changed, but the music hasn’t. Today, Lavender Country has re-formed, and has a new album called “Blackberry Rose.” They are finding a wider audience in both the LGBTQ community and its allies. This episode was recorded on location at Patrick and J.B.’s home in Bremerton, Washington. Engineer Miles and I drove up there from Olympia, as well as Jack Habbeger, who helped co-host this episode. And Patrick invited his band mate Jack Moriarty, who plays multiple instruments in the current version of the band. They even played some songs live in the living room!
Listen here:
Bonus content:
The interview above has been edited, but there’s a lot more great stories than we could fit into an episode, including more life-saving experiences from fans, tour tales, how Patrick and J.B. met and their work with the Act Up organization. If you’re interested in hearing the unedited two and a half hour interview, which includes these and other stories plus another song, you can hear it below. This bonus content will be available here through the end of 2020. After that, it will be only accessible via patreon.com/lowprofile for those of you who make flexible donations to this endeavor.
And here's some exclusive video I shot on my phone of Patrick, Jack and Miles performing my personal favorite Lavender Country song, "Stranger."
Recommended listening:
Here’s the album that started it all:
And here’s Blackberry Rose, the first new Lavender Country records in nearly half a century:
