Queer as (Texas) folk
Just as Steve Earle probably wouldn't like to be branded a heterosexual Americana singer/songwriter, Atlanta veteran Richard Bicknell doesn't particularly want to be known as a homosexual one. True, a gay country artist (even alt-country) is more notable than a straight one, based on numbers alone. And Bicknell's day job — as a hair colorist in a Buckhead salon — only encourages the cliches. But, in fact, Bicknell hasn't made his sexuality an issue during his first 15 years on the local music scene — first as part of the Lost Angels and more recently as a solo artist with backing band the Shameless Lovers.
During that time, Bicknell has associated himself more as an acolyte of the classic Texas songwriters — Townes Van Zandt, Eric Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Denice Franke and Ray Wylie Hubbard — who've been inspirations and, more recently, friends and collaborators. Bicknell's third album, the new Baby Lightning, features songs by Van Zandt, Taylor and Hubbard, as well as another songwriting friend, David Olney, and appearances by Taylor and Franke (in addition to fellow Atlanta music vets Kelly Hogan and Anne Richmond Boston). He even dedicates the album to Emmylou Harris, whose recordings introduced Bicknell to many of these songwriters.
But what stands out most on Baby Lightning are Bicknell's originals — particularly "D.P.L." and "Sebastian at the Metro," two songs that, for the first time, find him taking on gay perspectives in his songwriting. While Bicknell still doesn't want to be pigeonholed, it's this material that turns an otherwise strong album of rootsy pop into a truly unusual, original statement.
"D.P.L.," Bicknell admits, "is pretty much completely autobiographical." The song tells the story of the "small-town queers" growing up, as Bicknell did, in Columbus, Ga., who found sanctuary in the city's only gay bar, the Deep Purple Lounge. "Sebastian at the Metro" draws equally from real-life memory. Its central image — a man (prostitute?) so immersed in dancing that he kicks aside a dollar laying on the floor — is Bicknell's metaphor for true passion.
"I've always hesitated to write about some of these things, because the last thing I want is to be labeled a gay artist," Bicknell says. "I didn't really hold anything back on this record; I let the songs come as they would."
But while the gay angle makes the songs unusual, what makes them great is the same emotional element that elevates the work of his Texas peers: the sense of tragedy mixed with humor, of injustice with grace, of poetry and desire. It could be that Bicknell's newfound willingness to let it all hang out emerged from his health battles in recent years. Around the time of his second album, 1999's Mayflower, Bicknell was diagnosed with cancer. While the disease and its treatment left him unable to promote the record, he eventually emerged with a clean bill of health.
"I had sort of crawled up out of a grave," he says. "The record's called Baby Lightning after the first song we recorded [which didn't make the final cut]. When we recorded it, I was pretty much a concentration-camp looking thing, holding onto to the microphone so I could stand up."
Bicknell hopes this record provides the opportunities for touring and expanding his audience that weren't possible with Mayflower. He also hopes he doesn't become the token gay guy in the pages of No Depression magazine.
"I like the way someone like Michael Stipe has handled it — the way a lot of people are able to handle it now," he says. "People just see them as artists. [Being gay] is part of their makeup and enters into their songs. But I certainly don't want to be defined by it. That would be horrible."
Richard Bicknell & the Shameless Lovers play their CD release show Sat., Jan. 25, at the Variety Playhouse.
During that time, Bicknell has associated himself more as an acolyte of the classic Texas songwriters — Townes Van Zandt, Eric Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Denice Franke and Ray Wylie Hubbard — who've been inspirations and, more recently, friends and collaborators. Bicknell's third album, the new Baby Lightning, features songs by Van Zandt, Taylor and Hubbard, as well as another songwriting friend, David Olney, and appearances by Taylor and Franke (in addition to fellow Atlanta music vets Kelly Hogan and Anne Richmond Boston). He even dedicates the album to Emmylou Harris, whose recordings introduced Bicknell to many of these songwriters.
But what stands out most on Baby Lightning are Bicknell's originals — particularly "D.P.L." and "Sebastian at the Metro," two songs that, for the first time, find him taking on gay perspectives in his songwriting. While Bicknell still doesn't want to be pigeonholed, it's this material that turns an otherwise strong album of rootsy pop into a truly unusual, original statement.
"D.P.L.," Bicknell admits, "is pretty much completely autobiographical." The song tells the story of the "small-town queers" growing up, as Bicknell did, in Columbus, Ga., who found sanctuary in the city's only gay bar, the Deep Purple Lounge. "Sebastian at the Metro" draws equally from real-life memory. Its central image — a man (prostitute?) so immersed in dancing that he kicks aside a dollar laying on the floor — is Bicknell's metaphor for true passion.
"I've always hesitated to write about some of these things, because the last thing I want is to be labeled a gay artist," Bicknell says. "I didn't really hold anything back on this record; I let the songs come as they would."
But while the gay angle makes the songs unusual, what makes them great is the same emotional element that elevates the work of his Texas peers: the sense of tragedy mixed with humor, of injustice with grace, of poetry and desire. It could be that Bicknell's newfound willingness to let it all hang out emerged from his health battles in recent years. Around the time of his second album, 1999's Mayflower, Bicknell was diagnosed with cancer. While the disease and its treatment left him unable to promote the record, he eventually emerged with a clean bill of health.
"I had sort of crawled up out of a grave," he says. "The record's called Baby Lightning after the first song we recorded [which didn't make the final cut]. When we recorded it, I was pretty much a concentration-camp looking thing, holding onto to the microphone so I could stand up."
Bicknell hopes this record provides the opportunities for touring and expanding his audience that weren't possible with Mayflower. He also hopes he doesn't become the token gay guy in the pages of No Depression magazine.
"I like the way someone like Michael Stipe has handled it — the way a lot of people are able to handle it now," he says. "People just see them as artists. [Being gay] is part of their makeup and enters into their songs. But I certainly don't want to be defined by it. That would be horrible."
Richard Bicknell & the Shameless Lovers play their CD release show Sat., Jan. 25, at the Variety Playhouse.