Singer-songwriter Brandon Stansell has put his inclusive, “California country” twist on the Kacey Musgraves hit, “Space Cowboy,” and in the process may be emerging as the “gay country music icon” she’s called for.
HuffPost got an exclusive first look at Stansell’s interpretation of “Space Cowboy,” which can be viewed above. The clip, he said, will be one of several cover tunes he’ll release on his YouTube page over the next several months.
“I think she’s one of the best songwriters in Nashville; I wish I could be half the writer that she is,” Stansell said of Musgraves, who is riding a wave of buzz for “Golden Hour,” her third studio album. “I’m never a huge fan of twisting songs [and] changing pronouns and so on. I love the fact that I can just sing ‘Space Cowboy’ the way it was written. Just by having me sing the song from a male perspective, it gets turned on its head a little bit. And I love that.”
Musgraves added to her credentials as an LGBTQ advocate when she told HuffPost in March when she said it was time for a prominent gay performer to make his or her presence known on the Nashville circuit.
“If we had someone who could be that voice, a first-person account of that voice in our genre,” she said, “I think it could be a really powerful thing.”
If all goes according to plan, Stansell ― who resides in Los Angeles but originally hails from Tennessee ― could fit that bill. The 31-year-old has been tackling queer themes in his music and performances for some time now, most notably in his videos “Slow Down” and “Never Know.”
He joined recently with director and longtime collaborator Trent Atkinson to shoot the video for “Hometown,” a track on his first full-length album, “Slow Down,” that was inspired by his struggles coming to terms with his sexuality growing up in a conservative religious family. That video is due out this fall.
“I write a lot about my personal experiences, and a big part of that is my coming out story,” Stansell told HuffPost. “You can’t have a story like mine and not tell it.”
He continued, “Since I started writing music and pursuing this as a career, my desire has never been to be famous. It’s always been about creating a platform for myself to make music and to speak to people about issues concerning the LGBTQ community ... For me, artistry and advocacy go hand-in-hand.”
As he prepares to kick off a month-long, five-performance tour that will take him to Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, Stansell believes there’s plenty of LGBTQ acceptance to be found in the country music scene, frequently viewed as a bastion of traditional values.
“I’ve received nothing but positive feedback for the most part since I’ve been performing country music. I’m not naïve to think that’s all I’ll ever experience, but I’m going into this optimistically,” he said. “I think people are more loving and accepting than we give them credit for, and I think we just have to give them the opportunity to show their good sides.”
