(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . IVH: Orville Peck / Stampede [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-06 Hey it’s Pride month again. Not sure if I’ll have all Pride inspired stories this month or not but let’s kick off June with one. New one from Orville Peck with a bunch of co-conspirators, Stampede Vol.1 (which as of now is only available digitally, physical media coming later this year). . Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other (with Willie Nelson) Following the postponement of his 2023 tour for health-related reasons and his departure from Columbia Records, Orville Peck attempts something of a reset with Stampede: Vol. 1. A seemingly straightforward project consisting of seven duets, the album reflects both the gay South African country singer’s dedication to the genre and his desire not to be confined by it. And as a symbol of this newfound sense of agency, Peck altered his trademark leather mask to reveal much more of his face (though still covering his eyes) in his live performances and videos. While Peck’s vocals drew comparisons to that of an Elvis impersonator when he emerged on the scene with 2019’s Pony, he’s smartly chosen guest artists on Stampede: Vol. 1 whose voices effectively complement his own. On “How Far Will We Take It,” for instance, Noah Cyrus’s higher range provides a nice contrast to Peck’s deep, husky tone. [...] A cover of Ned Sublette’s 1981 song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Very Fond of Each Other,” featuring Willie Nelson, queers the iconography of country music. Originally covered by Nelson in 2006, the song conflates gayness and gender nonconformity (“A small town don’t like it when someone falls between sexes…Inside every cowboy, there’s a lady that’d love to slip out”) in a way that reflects the gender norms of the early ’80s. In a modern context, though, it’s also possible to interpret the song through a more contemporary trans lens. — Slant Magazine Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) (with Elton John) I always knew my whole life I wanted to be a performer,” said Daniel Pitout, professionally known as Orville Peck. “I don’t think anybody in my family, or my life, ever imagined me doing anything else.” [...] Now a country music phenomenon, Pitout’s “little songs” have grown into chart-topping statements. Under the anonym Orville Peck, Pitout took over the number one spot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart for a week straight in 2022. His EP Show Pony and record Bronco also snagged top ten remarks on Billboard’s Folk/Americana Albums charts, leaving Pitout with more than 85 million Spotify streams on his top five tracks alone. With his recently released third record, Stampede: Vol. 1, Pitout is bringing other artists into his world. All seven tracks on the new album feature Pitout’s colleagues–from Willie Nelson and Elton John, to Noah Cyrus and Nathaniel Rateliff. “I never thought that I would have the chance to kind of explore all these different sides of myself with these other artists,” Pitout said. “It was really an adventure for me.” Pitout’s intention wasn’t just to trade verses with his collaborators–he wanted to properly co-write with them. “That was really the goal that I set out with on this album. I didn’t want it to feel like just one of my regular albums that had a bunch of features on it,” Pitout said. — RevueWM Chemical Sunset (with Allison Russell) Out: How did the collaboration come together? Orville Peck: It was his idea, that's the craziest part. I used to cover this song in my live set, on and off, over the years. The first time I met him, he said, 'Oh, I heard you cover that, that Ned Sublette song,' who was the original writer. I was like, 'Yeah, I do.' And he's like, 'You know, we should, we should do that song as a duet. We should bring it back because it's so important now more than ever. We were having this conversation around the time Roe v. Wade was about to be overturned and the Supreme Court was doing all this crazy stuff and trying to roll back all these things.' Willie is such an activist and such an outlaw really. It was very deliberate on his part that he felt like it was an important song for us to do together, which is the coolest thing ever to hear. Trending stories O: What was it like to sing those lyrics 20 years later in a different climate and attitude toward gay people? OP: Even in the '80s when it came out, it was intentionally supposed to have a bit of humor to it, you know. A kind of in-your-face poignancy about something that is still... Look at the reception that anybody who does anything slightly outside of the white heteronormative, culturally stigmatized idea of country music. Whether that's Beyoncé or whether that's me or whether that's anybody who doesn't fit into that very specific sliver of the genre, it's viewed as totally outrageous by these people. But the fact of the matter is he's always been like this, you know, he's always been an outlaw and he's always been an activist. — Out How Far Will We Take It? (with Noah Cyrus) O: What are your feelings on how the cowboy agenda has progressed over the last few years in pop and country music? OP: What it really boils down to is that in country music, there's a reality and a factual basis of the genre. Country music is the most diverse American genre. It has got the most diverse cultural contributions as far as instruments, vocal melodies, inspirations. It's built from so many different cultures, it's built from Black culture, gospel, Latin culture, Mexican culture. It is the melting pot of the genre and for far too long, I think it's been sort of gatekept and stigmatized as this straight, white, heteronormative, whatever you want to call it, little pocket of people that are allowed to enjoy this genre. What's actually happening right now is, like Beyoncé called it, a renaissance. It's actually a reclaiming that everybody in this country and beyond has a part in country music. It is a diverse genre. There are a million types of country artists. There always have been Black country artists. There's always been gay country artists contributing to this genre. What's happening now is that people are starting to learn and realize that this is for everybody. So more people are starting to feel comfortable contributing to the genre rather than feeling like it's this thing that they're not invited to or not welcomed in. — Out Conquer The Heart (with Nathaniel Rateliff) . WHO’S TALKING TO WHO? Jimmy Kimmel: Magic Johnson, Jo Koy, Doechii featuring JT Jimmy Fallon: Ariana Grande, Ron Howard, Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning Stephen Colbert: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hozier Seth Meyers: David Ortiz, John Early, Roni Kaspi After Midnight: Brian Simpson, Kelsey Cook, Blair Socci Watch What Happens Live: Pre-empted The Daily Show: George Conway, Ronny Chieng [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/6/2244077/-IVH-Orville-Peck-Stampede?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/