It’s been a huge couple of weeks for country music fans! With the release of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, the CMT Music Awards, and the release of Orville Peck and Willie Nelson’s cover of “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other,” there’s no better time to get into the genre!
Perhaps the most mysterious man in country music, Orville Peck joined GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos to talk about working with the legend and so much more.
Peck praises 90-year-old Nelson for his decades long career as both an artist and an activist. “The first thing that Willie said to me, we were hanging out in his tour bus when we talked, when he asked me and said he wanted to do the song, he was saying, ‘You know, it’s more important now than ever.'” It’s not lost on Nelson how important a song and music video like this is at this time in LGBTQ history.
Peck compares Nelson to Dolly Parton when saying, “They’re like the last patron saints of country music and they’re just sort of untouchable legends.” He is so moved by “the fact that they are not afraid to sort of give the middle finger to this sort of concept of this gate kept part of country that’s all tied into like weird politics and all this stuff.”
He shares that Nelson wanted to “get gay married in the music video.” Saying he even said, “Annie, my wife, she can be the priest and she’ll give us away at the chapel!”
Annie did end up making a cameo in the video, shot at Nelson’s Texas ranch. “It was the most special day ever and I feel so honored to be included in Willie Nelson’s legacy in some way,” he shares.
Peck goes on to say, “I think that the fact that Willie stands next to the entire LGBTQIA+ community by doing this song just shows what an amazing person he is, what a legend he is… It’s a win for all of us because that’s true allyship. Someone who’s completely unafraid to be right there next to us, there’s no vagueness involved.”
Peck then teases his upcoming album, Stampede. “It actually was a huge catalyst for what is going to be my duets album, and what really started it all off was Willie asking me to do the song.” While their is little know yet about Stampede, Peck reveals that the duets album has “got some of the most country songs I’ve ever done. It’s got some of the least country songs I’ve ever done because I wanted every single song to feel like a true collaboration between me and the other artists.”
Peck also recently announced he’s heading back on tour! After taking a break from live shows last year for his mental health, he is excited to hit the road. “I truly feel like I’m the best version of myself I’ve ever been both as an artist and as a person and I have this massive pent up excitement.” He shares that Jamie Wyatt and Nikki Lane will both be joining him on the Stampede Tour.
On the rise of country’s popularity among more diverse audiences, Peck shares, “I think people are realizing that country music is more than just country music culture.” He explains, “There’s a lot of people who call themselves country music fans but they associate country music with kind of a lifestyle and that is usually not very accepting or welcoming unfortunately. But the truth of the matter is country music as an actual genre is incredibly diverse. It has always been that way.”
“There are Black, queer, Latin people, you name it country artists that have contributed to the genre in huge ways, instrumentally, vocally lyrically. It is a very diverse genre,” Peck says. “There’s this entire world that we thought was supposed to be for like straight white men in lifted trucks. But the reality is it’s for everyone and there’s a million different country artists and each of them have their own story.”
See Orville Peck in a city near you and listen to “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other“now!