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Rachel Cholst

QUEER COUNTRY: Putting It All On the Line

QUEER COUNTRY: Putting It All On the Line

Heather Mae should be going viral for her art: she has a commanding voice and a deft pen, just as competent writing sinuous electro-pop and affirming, heartbreaking folk music. She is not shy about her politics: her music is unapologetically queer, fat-positive, and condemning of repressive Evangelical Christianity.

ALBUM REVIEW: Paisley Field’s ‘Are U Mad At Me’ is an Instant Country Classic

ALBUM REVIEW: Paisley Field’s ‘Are U Mad At Me’ is an Instant Country Classic

Paisley Fields immerses the listener in a delightful frenzy from the very jump on his instant classic Are U Mad At Me. Fields takes country music’s key ingredients – nostalgia, authenticity, the mundane indignities of life – and throws them in a blender, producing ten songs that set the head spinning,

ALBUM REVIEW: Jessye DeSilva ‘Glitters Up the Dark’

ALBUM REVIEW: Jessye DeSilva ‘Glitters Up the Dark’

Jessye DeSilva embraces the miracle of trans self-creation on her new album, Glitter Up the Dark. Teaming up with Aaron Lee Tasjan in the producer’s chair, DeSilva continues her streak of soulful country that cuts to the bone while infusing the listener with hope and resilience. DeSilva has

QUEER COUNTRY: Looks Like We Made It

QUEER COUNTRY: Looks Like We Made It

It's funny how life sneaks up on you. Last Saturday, I stood on a stage in front of 40-ish people, making sure my mic was at the right angle. I didn't exactly see my younger self in the crowd — the stage was in the wrong

ALBUM REVIEW: Brit Taylor's ‘Land of the Forgotten’ Is One Banger After Another

ALBUM REVIEW: Brit Taylor's ‘Land of the Forgotten’ Is One Banger After Another

Brit Taylor casually strings together 11 songwriting masterclasses on her latest album, Land of the Forgotten. The album is dedicated to the small victories and near-misses of Appalachia, which Taylor has traversed as a professional singer since she was a child. Forgotten lovingly pays homage to Taylor’s East

ALBUM REVIEW: Rose's Pawn Shop Take Stock of Twenty Years of Music on ‘American Seams’

ALBUM REVIEW: Rose's Pawn Shop Take Stock of Twenty Years of Music on ‘American Seams’

Even from the opening fiddle bars, American Seams, the fifth studio album from Rose's Pawn Shop, speaks directly to the moment. The band proves their prowess at drawing from all aspects of American music to create something timeless and enduring. After twenty years of pounding the boards, it&

QUEER COUNTRY: Don't Stand So Close to Me, The Art of Queer Line Dancing

QUEER COUNTRY: Don't Stand So Close to Me, The Art of Queer Line Dancing

It happened again. For the second year in a row, my colleagues and I have organized an LGBTQIA+ Valentine's dance at the community college I teach at in the South Bronx. There were about 80 people in the room — an unheard-of turnout at a commuter campus — and