"You all come out, come out, my dears, to Lavender Country"

November 5, 2022 6:09 PM

Patrick Haggerty, trailblazing gay country singer, 1944-2022. If you're a longtime MeFite or a longtime public radio listener, you might know Patrick Haggerty from his StoryCorps story about a conversation he had with his dad as a teenager in the 1950s, where his father told him, "don't sneak." [previously, and previouslier.] But Haggerty - in addition to being an organizer, an activist, and a Marxist, who was kicked out of the Peace Corps for being gay - was also widely acclaimed as the first out gay country star as the leader of the band Lavender Country, who as early as 1973 were releasing songs like "Come Out Singing" and "Back in the Closet Again."

Musicians from Orville Peck to Trixie Mattel acknowledge Haggerty's influence and his role in opening up the field for a new generation of LGBTQ+ country singers.

This year, Lavender Country released a new album, Blackberry Rose, putting Haggerty back in the spotlight for a series of interviews.

Want to know more about queer country music? NPR has a "not-at-all exhaustive" playlist, and Shana Goldin-Perschbacher wrote the book. I was lucky enough to see Patrick Haggerty play this year with Lizzie No, Paisley Fields, and Austin Lucas, all of whom are pretty great.

posted by Jeanne (15 comments total)

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posted by allaboutgeorge at 6:12 PM on November 5, 2022

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posted by Faint of Butt at 7:22 PM on November 5, 2022

I had never heard of Haggerty, but I came across a CNN story about Haggerty a few days ago, which had more detail about the rediscovery of his music:

But in 2013, a record collector purchased Haggerty’s record on eBay and shared it with Greaves, who “cold-called” Haggerty and discussed re-releasing the album on his label, Paradise of Bachelors. Haggerty was suspicious, Greaves remembered – Haggerty, as he told CNN earlier this year, was mostly performing for nursing home crowds for free at that time.

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Within a matter of months, Haggerty was thrust into an industry he long believed had shut him out.

“Finally, like 35 years of repressed grief about ‘Lavender Country’ burst forward and I’m just like in a puddle of tears,” he told CNN about the day he got the call from Greaves. “My life changed completely and forever that day.”

(There's also a profile of Haggerty elsewhere at the Guardian.)

After reading the article, the song that intrigued me the most was I Can't Shake the Stranger Out of You.

I thought this would be an excellent story to share with MetaFilter, but of course I didn't manage to get it posted. I'm really glad to know about him, and I really appreciate you creating this excellent post for all of us here at MetaFilter. Thank you, Jeanne!
posted by kristi at 7:32 PM on November 5, 2022 [7 favorites]

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saw three of his shows in LA since he began touring again. great performances. he always mixed in stories between the songs.
posted by wibari at 8:41 PM on November 5, 2022

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