LAVENDER COUNTRY REISSUE
OUT 3/25 VIA PARADISE OF BACHELORS
LISTEN "CRYIN' THESE COCKSUCKING TEARS"
RECORD RELEASE SHOW 3/16 IN LOS ANGELES
OUT 3/25 VIA PARADISE OF BACHELORS
LISTEN "CRYIN' THESE COCKSUCKING TEARS"
RECORD RELEASE SHOW 3/16 IN LOS ANGELES
Widely recognized as the first openly gay country album - and cited as such even by Nashville institutions like the Country Music Hall of Fame & CMT - Lavender Country's landmark self-titled 1973 LP stands as nothing less than an artifact of courage, a sonic political protest document of enormous power, clarity, and grace.
At once a scathing indictment of the injustices perpetrated on the homosexual community, a proud proclamation of gay identity, and a love letter of bracing intimacy and eroticism, the album radically appropriates the signifiers of the conservative country genre, queering its heteronormative vocabulary into a deeply personal language. Songwriter, singer, and guitarist Patrick Haggerty, a fearless first-generation gay liberation activist and artist, seasons his songs with Yippie deviousness; in the manner of the Cockettes, the laughs both sharpen and sweeten the impact. To our ears the inimitable aesthetics and glimpses of cockeyed humor recall some ethereal psych-folk nexus of the Flatlanders & Ween as much as any standard country and western forbears, rendering the biting poetry in an even more other-worldly and timeless light.
The record reflects Haggerty's experiences: his upbringing on a tenant dairy farm in rural Washington, on the Canadian border; his dismissal from the Peace Corps on the spurious grounds of his sexuality; and his righteous struggles as an outraged young gay man navigating the Pacific Northwest in the immediate aftermath of Stonewall. He designed Lavender Country as a vehicle for what he deems "The Information": valid cultural communications intended to resonate with those unable to access similar resources.
LIVE LAVENDER COUNTRY: You are all cordially invited to come see Lavender Country in Los Angeles, at, The Church on York, March 16th.
This will be the first public performance of these songs in almost 15 years. Gun Outfit and White Fence open. Tickets here.
This show will close out Paradise of Bachelors Ides of March Weekender, Steve Gunn & Chris Forsyth both with full bands, will also be playing the Church on March 14th, and M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger will perform with members of Magnolia Electric Co. and Songs:Ohia as part of the Songs: Molina tribute on March 15. Please join us for any or all of these exciting shows!
At once a scathing indictment of the injustices perpetrated on the homosexual community, a proud proclamation of gay identity, and a love letter of bracing intimacy and eroticism, the album radically appropriates the signifiers of the conservative country genre, queering its heteronormative vocabulary into a deeply personal language. Songwriter, singer, and guitarist Patrick Haggerty, a fearless first-generation gay liberation activist and artist, seasons his songs with Yippie deviousness; in the manner of the Cockettes, the laughs both sharpen and sweeten the impact. To our ears the inimitable aesthetics and glimpses of cockeyed humor recall some ethereal psych-folk nexus of the Flatlanders & Ween as much as any standard country and western forbears, rendering the biting poetry in an even more other-worldly and timeless light.
The record reflects Haggerty's experiences: his upbringing on a tenant dairy farm in rural Washington, on the Canadian border; his dismissal from the Peace Corps on the spurious grounds of his sexuality; and his righteous struggles as an outraged young gay man navigating the Pacific Northwest in the immediate aftermath of Stonewall. He designed Lavender Country as a vehicle for what he deems "The Information": valid cultural communications intended to resonate with those unable to access similar resources.
LIVE LAVENDER COUNTRY: You are all cordially invited to come see Lavender Country in Los Angeles, at, The Church on York, March 16th.
This will be the first public performance of these songs in almost 15 years. Gun Outfit and White Fence open. Tickets here.
This show will close out Paradise of Bachelors Ides of March Weekender, Steve Gunn & Chris Forsyth both with full bands, will also be playing the Church on March 14th, and M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger will perform with members of Magnolia Electric Co. and Songs:Ohia as part of the Songs: Molina tribute on March 15. Please join us for any or all of these exciting shows!
LAVENDER COUNTRY
LAVENDER COUNTRY
(PARADISE OF BACHELORS RECORDS)
MARCH 25, 2014
1. Come Out Singing
2. Gypsy John
3. Waltzing Will Trilogy
4. Georgie Pie
5. Cryin' These Cocksucking Tears
6. Back in the Closet Again
7. I Can't Shake the Stranger Out of You
8. To a Woman
9. Straight White Patterns
10. Lavender Country
(PARADISE OF BACHELORS RECORDS)
MARCH 25, 2014
1. Come Out Singing
2. Gypsy John
3. Waltzing Will Trilogy
4. Georgie Pie
5. Cryin' These Cocksucking Tears
6. Back in the Closet Again
7. I Can't Shake the Stranger Out of You
8. To a Woman
9. Straight White Patterns
10. Lavender Country