Guest Blog: Queer Cxntry

Saddle Up Y’all! Margate Punk Duo pink suits are bringing their cult night ‘Queer Cxntry’ to Signature Brew in Walthamstow for a FULL DAY TAKEOVER this bank holiday Saturday, 23rd August. Have a read all about it below, make sure you nab tickets, and listen to our special Queer Cxntry playlist to get you in the mood!

Is this your first Rodeo? For those who have not been to or heard of Queer Cxntry, here’s what to expect:

Queer Cxntry is a Country music themed LGBTQIA+ live gig and club night. Hosted by Lori Mae with performances from creators of the night pink suits‘ house band ‘The Northdown Rodeo’, plus drag legends The Cybils and special guest performers and DJs including Donna Poderosa, Izzy Aman and Dolly Parton tribute band, The Dumb Blondes. Audiences are encouraged to get involved! Come dressed to impress in your Cxntry Best for a chance to win the costume contest, join in some games for a chance to win some cxntry lovin’ prizes or jump up on the Rodeo Bull and show us what you got! Get your photos snapped in the iconic rose booth to show off  your outfits, and then dance the night away to country DJs and live music.

So, how did a political punk duo from Margate end up starting a Queer Cxntry night?

There were many things that lead to us starting Queer Cxntry. Lennie has always been really into cowboys, country music and dressing up. Johnny Cash and June Carter; The Highwaymen; Dolly Parton. And they’ve always been obsessed with watching cowboys that their mum loved growing up… Like Kevin Costner in Silverado, and concert videos of Ray Sawyer in Dr Hook and The Medicine Show, who were incredibly intriguing to a young bi boy from Manchester. Ray grew up in the real country, small town Colorado, USA! Surrounded by cowboys and country music, but in a very macho way. If you look closely, country has always been Queer!

More recent influences that directly lead to us starting Queer Cxntry in Margate were:

In late 2016 Lennie went for a piss in the iconic Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone. There was a country ‘n’ western night happening in the function room that they watched for a while. It was cute and wholesome, older couples line dancing and partner dancing, dressed in flannel shirts and cowboy hats and dresses and boots. But it was also very straight, and problematic with confederate flags hung on the walls. They thought it would be so great to see a Queer version of this… 

In 2019 Orville Peck exploded into our lives with the debut album Pony. This album, all of the songs, all of the aesthetics of Orville Peck and the music videos just crushed us. It was dark and romantic, and camp and silly, and unapologetically Queer. We were obsessed with all of it. That year we saw Orville Peck play in Leeds, London, Barcelona and Sydney. In Sydney we found a pink cowboy hat in a country store called Route 66 and decided to commit our lives to the Queer Cowboy aesthetic… 

Early 2020, right before the world shut down, there was a karaoke night at Tom Thumb Theatre in Margate. Lennie, newly back from Australia and newly committed to the Queer Country life, did a Cyrus mash up – singing Billy Ray Cyrus ‘Achey Breaky Heart’ dressed as Miley Cyrus in Wrecking Ball. Shelley Grotto was there and absolutely crushed Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and we said there NEEDS to be a night where we can dress like cowboys and Shelley can sing Jolene with a live band…

In Summer 2021 as venues were opening up again, Sammy from Elsewhere (now WhereElse?) asked us to do a show. We wanted to get audiences back together and back in venues, but we are a punk band and the restrictions were still up and down. No basements, no full gigs, no drums, no moving around, stay seated, wear masks etc, which didn’t scream ‘punk night’. We thought it would be a good opportunity to try out a Queer Country night of audience dress up, some gentle live band country covers, some drag performances. We knew Janet District Council played fiddle, and we met Island Girl on the steps at the beach and talked about banjos, so we put a band together. We had one rehearsal that Lucky Deluz just turned up to out of the blue… Thank the country gods! We sold out, a whole forty tickets, for the first ever Queer Cxntry… The rest, as they say…

Why does country lend itself so well to queerness? Has country always been Queer?

This could take a long long time and a lifetime of discussion, which we are fully committed to having! However, for the sake of ease, we will give you the simple answer. Queers love a dress up! And country is a very camp and very varied dress up… And all of it is hot! The cowboy aesthetic is rugged, butch and macho, it can be eccentric and tabby, sexy or subtle, it works for the L’s, G’s the B’s, the T’s the Q’s. The whole Queer alphabet! Leather is hot. Dungarees are hot. Boots and Saddles and Chaps, bandannas and ropes and tight jeans… it’s ALL GOOOD! And let’s be clear, the straights also love cowboys and the hot masc wrangler… But for Queers it is the subversion of this archetype that is fun and silly and sexy.

But country music is also very Queer. Not the business of country music, and a lot of the people who historically have been successful in it. Not the mainstream idea we have of the country music demographic, that has been unfairly co-opted by ideas of homophobia and misogyny, which is definitely rife in country music. But, at its heart, country music is about the experiences of life, love, loss, family and friends, and contemplating how we spend this time together. It is about heartbreak and beauty and struggles and pain. There is so much in country music that speaks to the Queer experience and – despite this idea that we have about country music not being a place for Queer people – a lot of the champions of country music have always been champions of Queer people and have spoken out about peoples right to live and love freely. I am talking about people like: Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, The Chicks, Tim McGraw, Brandi Carlisle, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes… And now we have many out Queer country artists like: Orville Peck, Paisley Fields, Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah, Lil Nas X, Dixon Dallas and many more.

Queer people have always been here. In every part of society. That includes country. It includes country music. It includes cowboys and ranchers and farmers and wranglers. There are some great resources out there that go into more historic detail of Queer life in the American West. 

A couple of our favourite Queer Cxntry albums (in addition to everything by Orville Peck’s Pony):

Noah Cyrus – I Want My Loved Ones To Go With Me
Noah Cyrus just dropped one of our favourite albums of all time. It has come out of nowhere and absolutely crushed us. If you do one thing off of the back of this blog, then listen to this album. If you do two things, then listen to the album AND book tickets for the Bank Holiday all dayer!


Allison Russell – Outside Child
We have made this recommendation on GIHE before I believe? But we will never ever stop shouting about this album. It has been four years, and we still listen to it a few times a week. Allison Russell is an unbelievable artist and a wonder to see live! 


A few other must-listen Queer Cxntry songs: 

Lavender Country – ‘Straight White Patterns‘
Mary Gauthier – ‘Drag Queens In Limosines‘
Orville Peck – ‘Hope To Die‘
Paisley Fields – ‘Iowa‘


Like what you’ve heard / seen / read?! Come join the Queer Cxntry revolution at the special All-Dayer event THIS SATURDAY 23RD AUGUST at Signature Brew on Blackhorse Road – tickets here. These events are always the most joyous, most life-affirming of times, so we really cannot recommend it enough to our queer community (and lovely allies)!
If you can’t make it this Saturday, listen to the Queer Cxntry playlist and make sure you catch the whole thing on tour this Autumn – details here.


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Five Favourites: pink suits

Having released their blazing debut, Political Child, back in 2021, Margate duo pink suits have now just released their second album. Inspired by the relentless over saturation of bleak news cycles, Dystopian Hellscape may be a little more self-reflective, silly and sexy than its predecessor, but loses none of the band’s politically aggressive, anti-Tory, anti-Fascist, Feminist Queer Energy. Inspired by a newspaper article entitled The News Comes So Often, It Makes You Sick, Dystopian Hellscape explores the effects of modern society and neoliberal politics on our mental health with pinks suits’ trademark tenacious spirit and raw musicality. Reflecting on the sense of confusion and frustration that comes with the over-saturation of scandal and disaster within mainstream media, the album also discusses themes of self-care, grief, gender identity, sexuality, queer joy and – of course – coffee. From the riotous power of searing rallying cry ‘Refuse The Rules’, and the fiercely uncompromising reclamation of being confident in who you are, ‘Are You Gay Yet?’, the album showcases pink suits’ ability to channel frustration into a perfect raging catharsis. 

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of the Dystopian Hellscape, I caught up with Ray and Lennie to find out about the music that inspires them the most. Read about their five favourite albums, watch the video for recent single ‘C.O.F.F.E.E‘ and make sure you check out the full album on bandcamp now!

The Runaways – The Runaways
The Runaways’ debut album, which was released in 1976, is one of my fave albums of all time, as well as being a huge influence on the kind of music I (Ray) wanted to make when we started pink suits. I think I discovered The Runaways when I was about 14 and got completely obsessed with them. I think the fact that they were so young on this record, and when I found them I was also so young, it gave me a radical feeling of possibility. Which when you’re 14 feels pretty wild! I think I immediately assembled a band of misfits and people I thought could kick-off pretty well given the chance, which we were all extremely excited about and equally I think all knew it was never actually gonna happen. I loved the uninhibited energy they had, and I’m still waiting for my front-man moment – out from behind the drums! I wanna be front and centre, swinging the mic around and working the crowd.

** Sadly and disappointedly, it turns out Cherie Currie is a massive terf! But Joan Jett is still an icon, so we can breathe easy for that! Although this album and The Runaways will always be a big influence on us as a band we cannot support anyone with transphobic views. We have played ‘Cherry Bomb’ for the last time…

Amyl and The Sniffers – Big Attraction and Giddy Up
This album was one of the biggest references of sound for Dystopian Hellscape. Everyone went mad for Comfort To Me, which is a great album, but we think Big Attraction and Giddy Up is the most exciting LP. It is 2 EPs – Giddy Up was written and released all in a 12 hour time span, and then Big Attraction was written later that year. You can get the LP of both of these EPs together (though it has just disappeared from Spotify?). We love this LP, it feels so rough and ready. Amy is such a force as a front person and we love the energy they bring every time; you can feel it through the record just as much as you do live, which is definitely something we strive for as well. We find recording hard because of the challenge of getting the live feel and energy across. Not that many bands manage it, but we think Big Attraction and Giddy Up really feels like the live band.

Allison Russell – Outside Child
This debut album from Allison Russell came out in 2021, and is probably our most listened to album of all time. I think we listened to it a few times a day everyday for over a year – the best thing that we did during lockdown! It’s just incredible. It is a very personal and heart wrenching album about trauma, childhood, love, loss, growth, and her voice is just amazing. We have had the chance to see her live a couple times and wept throughout the whole show; honestly one of the most stunning humans to see. The content of the music is often quite heavy, but she is able to bring a joy and lightness to it. We love her so much!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RNJgwj8d9eo%3Fsi%3DW4cXc3dZz6viy_b7

Orville Peck – Pony
As some of you probably know, when we aren’t being a punk band we are full country babes – we run a night called Queer Cuntry, and we owe a lot of that to Orville Peck. We got immediately obsessed with him as soon as we heard this debut album of his, he really brought back a sort of old country sound which is the style of country music we love. He is also just very camp and queer and theatrical, which we relate to in a lot of ways. This album and the music videos and performances we saw from him were pretty incredible; he combines a sort of cinematic storytelling with camp aesthetics in a way that just works. There’s no fighting it! He also used to be in a punk band and trained in ballet, so really we are kindred spirits in so many ways. We saw him four times in 2019, and the live shows are so much fun. Queer Cuntry has taken off in a big way for us (we are bringing it to Chaka Khan’s Meltdown Festival in June!), and Pony was the album that gave us a kick up the ass and made us start doing country.
(You can catch pink suits in their country guise supporting Dolly Parton tribute band The Dumb Blondes on 19th July at Sebright Arms – tickets are already moving quick, so don’t miss out!)

Bob Vylan – We Live Here
This is another album that we absolutely rinsed when it came out. As soon as we heard the title track we were obsessed, and then we got the whole album and every song is fucking killer. This was such an inspiring album as we were putting together our debut album political child and were thinking about how aggressively violent and political it was; we were not worried about saying what we wanted to say, but we were curious how it would land as we were not hearing that much new music that was so full of rage. Then we heard We Live Here and we were like YES! Let’s fucking go with this angry and violent protest album! I used to go running and listen to political child straight into We Live Here to see if our album stood up next to the Bobbys… We think it does, and we got to support Bob Vylan in Ramsgate a year later, and the live show is just so so good! These guys give it absolutely everything and deserve all the success they are having.

We just realised we have a kink for debut albums! I guess that makes sense, it is so exciting to see how a new artist chooses to burst into the world. All of the subsequent material from these artists is amazing too, but clearly we love that first fresh taste. 

Massive thanks to pink suits for sharing their Five Favourites with us! Make sure you check out their full new album, Dystopian Hellscape, now. And catch them live across the country over the next few months, including at Cro Cro Land in South London this Saturday, 13th April.



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Five Favourites: Bria

Whilst you may recognise Bria Salmena from working in Orville Peck’s world-conquering backing band, she is also an immensely innovative artist in her own right. Following the release of Cuntry Covers Vol.1 in 2021, Salmena has now collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Duncan Hay Jennings once again for Vol.2., set for release next month.

As a taster of the upcoming EP’s release, Bria has now shared her rendition of Paula Cole’s ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?‘. Adding her own unique reverb-strewn scuzz and whirring danceable energy to the original, her rich, sumptuous vocals ripple alongside a soul-strewn groove, creating a dreamily immersive soundscape.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of Cuntry Covers Vol.2, we caught up with Bria to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. Rather than pick five all-time top albums, she’s selected the songs she’s listening to the most right now – read/listen below and check out Cuntry Covers Vol.1 while you await the release of Vol.2!


It’s impossible for me to pick my favourite songs or albums, I’m just not one of those people. For me, it’s constantly in flux. So I’ve decided instead to share my top five songs of January 2023. And to be clear, these are not songs released in Jan 2023 but rather what’s been on repeat in my house, car, headphones etc. This list is extremely manic, I hope you enjoy it. 

Nourished By Time – ‘Romance In Me’
Nourished By Time is a new discovery – initially introduced through an NTS playlist. There’s a very obvious nostalgic quality to the track, but I really just think the vocal progression is something entirely unique. I love the production – there’s a really satisfying balance of tension between the keys and guitar, especially in the choruses. This song really builds extremely well, I feel as though I kind of get swept away in it. It’s the kind of song I find myself harmonising with vocally, however annoying that may seem. When I’m in the mood to feel heartbroken I’ll probably put this song on.

Kate Bush – ‘Pull Out The Pin’
I’m a long-time Kate Bush fan, and this song came back into my rotation this month. The intensity of this track lyrically and musically is so satisfying for me. I love Bush’s ability to tell a story, it feels like theatre. This song was written after she had seen a documentary about the Vietnam war, wherein they show Vietnamese soldiers putting little silver buddhas in their mouths as they approached the front line. I love hearing this side of Bush’s vocal range – her ability to sing-scream is so beautiful, it’s been somewhat cathartic to listen this month. I also feel as though this is an overlooked B-side of hers, so I’m urging you now to give it a listen. 

Deftones- ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’
So technically, I started having this song on repeat in December, but there are no rules here. On Christmas day, I went to a very famous bikini bar here in Los Angeles called Jumbo’s, and one of the dancers did a very impressive pole dance to this song. I hadn’t heard it in so long and after that, I played it throughout my somewhat lonely holiday season. I think it might be the hottest song ever written – not sexiest, but hottest. The whole record is amazing, I don’t even know if I can say any more about it.

Golpe – ‘Non Piergarti’
Golpe is an Italian punk band whose first full-length record came out in 2021. Lots of Italian friends had told me to check them out and I finally did sometime last fall. ‘Non Piegarti’ might be one of my favourites of theirs – with ‘La Colpa E Solo Tua’ as a close second. I’ve spent most of January moving into a new apartment and sorting out my life here in Los Angeles, and the song title translates to “Don’t Bend Over” which has been a bit of a mantra of mine throughout a stressful month. I’m a big fan of the production of this song, and I love the vocal effect on this song and how well the guitars sit alongside. It’s heavy, but very well-balanced.

Florist – ‘Red Bird Part 2 (Morning)’
This song is extremely beautiful and EXTREMELY sad. You’ve been warned. When I’m searching for a sort of sad calm feeling, I will put this on. It’s a beautifully tragic song about the death of the singer’s mother. I’m drawn to the simplicity of the instrumentation, rooted in acoustic guitar and accompanied by a kind of dreamy ethereal electric guitar. I also am a big fan of the double unison vocals on this track – I myself love doing that, as I feel you can really round out the sound that way.


Massive thanks to Bria for sharing her five ‘favourites’ with us! Listen to new single ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?’ now:

Cuntry Covers Vol.2, the upcoming EP from Bria, is set for release on 24th February via Sub Pop.

Photo Credit: Justin Aranha

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