Earlier this week, Hayley Kiyoko defied police warnings to perform with drag queens at the Nashville date of her North American tour, following in the footsteps of Orville Peck and other artists — including Allison Russell, Brittany Howard, Sheryl Crow, Yo La Tengo and the B-52s — who have taken a stand against the state of Tennessee's anti-drag legislation.
But the ever-elusive Canadian cowboy was nervous to bring drag performers onstage with him in light of Senate Bill 3 passing in March, henceforth criminalizing any public "adult cabaret performance" that could be witnessed by children. He recently told Variety's Marc Malkin that the gravity of the situation was also the reason he knew he had to do it.
"Was I scared? Yes, but I did it anyway because sometimes you just have to do something no matter what," Peck explained.
At concerts behind Bronco in Knoxville, Memphis and "a few places in Tennessee and just the South in general," the singer-songwriter says that he "doubled down."
"I had a drag queen come out in the middle of the show, and I would do a big speech," he recounted, recruiting the talents of Alexia Noelle Paris and Alvion Arnell Davenport. "To me, drag is extremely important not just because a lot of my lovely dear friends do it."
Peck added, "It's a cornerstone of not just gay culture but gay civil rights. It is literally why I have the ability to be an openly gay man in country music."
But the ever-elusive Canadian cowboy was nervous to bring drag performers onstage with him in light of Senate Bill 3 passing in March, henceforth criminalizing any public "adult cabaret performance" that could be witnessed by children. He recently told Variety's Marc Malkin that the gravity of the situation was also the reason he knew he had to do it.
"Was I scared? Yes, but I did it anyway because sometimes you just have to do something no matter what," Peck explained.
At concerts behind Bronco in Knoxville, Memphis and "a few places in Tennessee and just the South in general," the singer-songwriter says that he "doubled down."
"I had a drag queen come out in the middle of the show, and I would do a big speech," he recounted, recruiting the talents of Alexia Noelle Paris and Alvion Arnell Davenport. "To me, drag is extremely important not just because a lot of my lovely dear friends do it."
Peck added, "It's a cornerstone of not just gay culture but gay civil rights. It is literally why I have the ability to be an openly gay man in country music."
