Earlier this month, country singer and gay activist, Chely Wright, closed her upcoming album’s crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. By the time the campaign finished its run, not only did 2,265 devoted fans helped raise the initial $200,00, it became the sixth most successful music campaign in Kickstarter’s history. Now, Wright is ready to share details about the highly anticipated Me record.
During her interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Chely declared,”It went gangbusters. It was the sixth most successful music campaign in Kicsktarter’s history and number one most successful in country music in Kickstarter history. I say that, really, to just brag on my fans and the enthusiasm they have.”
While discussing her popularity after she declared she’s a lesbian, the Single White Female songstress admitted she wasn’t sure if her campaign was going to get enough support or funding. “I knew I had a new LGBT fans or straight-ally after I came out. But those people don’t always translate into people who want to buy your records. They’ll hit the ‘like’ button your Facebook page because they like that you’re living an authentic life, but a lot of them will say, ‘But I hate country music. I’m not going to buy her record, but it’s cool that she came out.’ I wasn’t sure who I had left. I was blown away.”
Also revealing why she’s continuing to stay country, Wright stated, “I had somebody ask me, ‘Why don’t you just go pop?’ I said, ‘That’s not me. I don’t want to be a pop artist. I want to be an artist that can be 60 years old sitting on stage at Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame telling stories and singing songs that would be appropriate for a 60-year-old woman. I mean, we all want to be Emmlou Harris or Loretta Lynn, don’t we?”
In regards to her response to whether the record “will be gay or not,” Chely explained,”It will be gay by nature that I am gay. But I won’t be singing about anything different than I’ve ever sung about before. The way I made records and wrote songs was perhaps the only way I ever felt authentic in my life. Even through being closeted, when I sang, Single White Female… I’m trying to tell a great story.”
She then used The Last Supper as an example. “Everyone knew I hadn’t been married before, but everyone took it on good authority that I was singing a song about a man and a wife. As I’ve said many times, I’m pretty sure Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. So, all my pronouns in my songs won’t be ‘she’ and ‘her.’ I’m going to be singing songs about stories that American people can relate to. Most of us in America in country music, whether we’re gay, straight, or bisexual, we really are about family and faith and country.”
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