In a music genre that has not been well-known for LGBTQ+ inclusion, Chris Housman shines boldly as a beacon of inspiration, hope, and encouragement to queer country music fans here in the U.S. and globally. Having this representation in country music can be truly life-changing and life-saving, especially for those in remote and rural areas, states, and other countries that restrict LGBTQ+ rights.
The comments on his music videos reveal the impact his songs have on his fans new and old. Regarding his song “Guilty as Sin”, one listener comments, “I grew up gay in a rural small town in Colorado during the 70s and 80s listening to country music. It is impossible for me to imagine what my life would have been like if I had the chance to hear a song and see a video like this growing up.”
And his message is heard globally: “I am from Iraqi Kurdistan and our government approved a law to ban homosexuality and death penalty for LGBTQ+ members! As a gay man living in such a hopeless world, this song made me cry. The song showed me I’m not alone. Thank you ,Chris.”
OFM had the pleasure of getting to know this rising star and talk about his Blueneck album and his latest video release, “High Hopes.”
How long have you been making music?
I have been making music since I was 7 years old. I got my start by teaching myself the fiddle. When I was 7, I used to go to these jam sessions with my family every Friday night that wasn’t during football season. There was this older guy named Tom that played the fiddle at these jam sessions, and I just thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. And honestly, mostly we would go just so my parents could smoke cigarettes and talk shit and gossip. But occasionally, music was played too, and I just was so fascinated by it and decided I wanted to play fiddle. I got one for Christmas that year and just kind of picked it up and ran with it. The next thing I knew, we had a family band, and we were traveling all over western Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
Do you play any instruments besides the fiddle and guitar?
Yeah, I’ve picked up several instruments along the way. Although I definitely pick up a new instrument ,and then I get good enough at it to fake-it-till-you-make-it, and then kind of move on to another. I’m more focused on singing and songwriting now. But yeah, after the fiddle I played saxophone in band in school. I picked up the piano. Upright bass is kind of my main instrument now. And I think you mentioned guitar. Spoons is a recent one that I’ve picked up; that’s been really fun. (I also play) banjo a little bit. It’s cool that a different instrument kind of brings out different inspiration. I like that part of it.
Our new favorite song, “Blueneck,” really resonates with folx. Have you gotten a lot of great feedback about it?
Yeah! That has kind of blown my mind a little bit at how positive the response for that has been. And it turns out, it’s funny because to me that was kind of just a song about my identity and just me and growing up, so it’s funny that the song has resonated with so many people. But it also makes sense because there’s a lot of us that either grew up in some country facet or on a farm or a small town, or even if it was like a suburb outside of a city, some country element. Or we were just fans of ’90’s country and then understandably gravitated away from the genre and we didn’t feel welcomed by it.
And so it makes sense seeing so many people say things like, “ Oh my gosh, this song has me pulling out my boots again,” or, “I’m a country fan again,” or, “I’m a country fan for the first time!” That’s really one of my favorite things to see. Because it’s just so ridiculous to me that a genre of music can make entire communities of people feel unwelcome. That song validated what I was doing too, that I can be openly gay and do country music. When you see the numbers, and you see the millions of views on a song and the stuff on Tik Tok, then nobody can deny it.
Would you mind sharing your coming-out story?
Of course. Yeah, I’m a wide-open book. So I came out not totally by my own choice. But after high school, I had just graduated, and I’d come out to a few friends, and I was kinda like, “Yes I did it; I graduated without everybody knowing!” I grew up in a town of 200 people, and, you know, you tell, like, 10 people, and that’s 5% of the town. But it’s a freaky story; this guy, another person I went to high school with, had been messaging somebody else in the town on instant messenger about me being gay. And that person saved those messages on their desktop, and then they sold that computer to a different family in the next town over. And that family had two girls in high school that stumbled upon those messages, and then all of a sudden one day I’m getting, like, 30 calls. It’s just spreading like wildfire, and so then I wanted to tell my parents so they could hear it from me and not from a rumor because it was just a matter of time. I set myself a little deadline, and my deadline was June 20, 2008. I was 18 and right in between high school and about to go to college.
Then I sat them down to talk. I remember exactly; I’ll never forget, I reminded them, “Do you remember you said you’d love me no matter what?” “Yeah, of course, okay keep that in mind!” I tell you this, I just want you to know from me not from other people. I’m gay.” And my mom was like, “Oh!” At first I thought it was going well because, I don’t know, nothing was being thrown (laughs), but then she’s like, “Oh, you’re not gay; boys just go through a phase; you’re just going through it a little later than usual.” And I was like, “No, it’s definitely not that; it’s been a most-of-my-life phase if that’s what it is.” And she was like, “It’s okay, we’ll figure this out. Just don’t tell anybody.” And I said, “Well, that’s part of the thing is that people do know, people are finding out. And so I wanted you to hear from me. But also, it’s fine for people to find out because there’s nothing for me to be ashamed of.” And that’s when my mom left the room and left the house for a while.
It’s gotten a lot better, but it’s still just kind of “don’t talk about it,” even though I talk about it publicly. When I came out, I also became the first person that I had ever encountered that was openly queer, so I know that’s probably the same for them. I’m not trying to justify anything, but I know that I’ve kind of unpacked it a lot since then and realized so much of that is fear-based, wanting the best for your kid and also just caring too much about what other people think. I realized there was so much of that ingrained in me, and it took me a lot of years to care more about what I thought than what other people did.
It sounds like you were really brave!
Yeah, I’m looking back now and thinking, “Wow, where did that come from?”
It takes courage to push past that fear and stand up for yourself, so good for you for doing that! You obviously feel more confident to talk about your identity, and that’s really helpful. You’re not just making music that connects with people; you’re actually helping save lives by doing that.
I mean, that’s the goal. I think about this all the time, that I can’t imagine what it would have meant to me to hear a song or see a music video or just a person in general that is openly queer within this genre while growing up. If there’s even just one person that it helps to feel more seen and comfortable, then mission accomplished!
So where are you playing next?
Well now that June—the Super Bowl month of being a musician—is over, I’m kind of laying low right now, which I don’t mind for now, to be honest. But I did a lot for Pride. I think the next thing I have is a Pride festival in September. But shows always just pick up and stuff. I am now working with a booking agent as of two weeks ago, so hopefully we’ll be able to string some little tour spots together in a way that makes sense. I really want to get out and do shows all over but at the same time, it’s so much for an independent artist to be able to do that and not lose money. And I feel bad because there’s been people asking for like a year, “When are you coming to blah, blah?” And I really haven’t been able to do that as much as I want to. Right now I’m focusing on doing music videos. Hopefully we’re shooting a music video for every song on the album, which is a lofty goal. So focusing on that and hopefully getting some sort of tour together.
Well, we’ll be anxiously awaiting. Are you working on an album right now?
Yeah, I always feel like I’m writing; I’m writing for album number three at this point, maybe even four. I’ve written, like, over 300 songs in the past few years, and there’s so many of those that I can’t wait to release. I’m not actively recording it because I’m also trying to figure out a producer situation, but yeah, I can’t wait, especially when I already got the songs. I have a write with another fantastic songwriter and artist who’s also queer named Denitia. This will be our first time writing together but she just made her Grand Ole Opry debut a couple of weeks ago. So I love doing that a lot, too, writing for other artists. I’m just still churning away but more behind-the-scenes stuff now. So what part of Colorado are y’all in?
We’re in Denver!
That’s what I thought! Amazing. I did make it out there towards the end of 2021. A fan reached out to me about performing for his husband’s surprise 40th birthday, and they flew me out and put me up. And I was singing happy birthday as he walked out into the garage with a bunch of people in there and then it was me! Singing happy birthday. It was so cool and like, so sweet. Anyway, that was my first time really hanging out in Denver, but I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to get back.
Photo courtesy of For Fairchild
