Music & Concerts
New Ty Herndon album is mixed bag
Out country star covers himself and others on uneven new project


It’s been 24 years since the twangy country hit “What Mattered Most” stormed the country charts with its iconic chorus about a blue-eyed Louisiana girl. Like the best ‘90s country music artists, Ty Herndon had a number of songs about broken-hearted men thinking about lost loves.
But nearly two decades after the release of his debut album, Herndon became one of the first openly gay country music stars, coming out in a 2014 interview with People Magazine. And his new album, the rightfully named “Got It Covered,” features re-releases of his biggest country hits from the ‘90s, as well as covers of the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Carrie Underwood. In many ways, the album allows for a reappraisal of his earlier hits, particularly “What Matters Most,” which has been refitted with new pronouns.
After a consistent series of hits in the mid-to-late ‘90s, Herndon became largely absent from the country music spotlight after his 1999 record “Steam,” not unlike many others artists who had a harder time connecting with audiences after the turn of the millennium.
“Got It Covered” is largely an effort to return to those roots, and perhaps, to transplant them to more contemporary soil. But there is a something more than slightly disturbing about trying to relive one’s musical past in this way. We generally expect covers to add something new to an old song, but for Herndon, the new versions of his older songs have lost part of their soul in the process.
The most touching new version is his updated “What Mattered Most.” The chorus of the alternate version on the new album has changed the Louisiana girl into a boy: “His eyes are blue, his hair is long/In ’64 he was born in Baton Rouge.” It’s incredible to think about the journey that such a song has been on, as indicated by the difference between the 1995 version on his “What Mattered Most” album and new recording. But at the same time, the softer, more nasal vocals and classic sounding ‘90s instrumentation have disappeared, covered up by heavier sound, dominated by electric guitar.
Take “I Need to Be Loved Too Much” from his 1997 album “Living in a Moment.” The new version reproduces the same song structure without the classic instrumentation — Herndon sent the fiddles packing for his new recordings. And gone is the nasal vocal quality that Herndon and male country singers of the ‘90s shared to a lesser degree with John Anderson, whose classic 1991 “Straight Tequila Night” serves as a prime example.
The problem is not the quality of Herndon’s catalogue, but rather the raison d’être of an album that re-records his greatest hits with no real change other than updated instrumentation, with the exception of the lyrics of “What Mattered Most.” If anything, the new album makes ‘90s originals stand taller, as good representatives of a particular moment in country music.
Among the covers of songs by other artists, Herndon has a version of Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 classic “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” It’s impossible not to enjoy the song, but it’s unclear what Herndon adds with his recording. George Michael offers a version that differs from Raitt’s on his 1998 “Ladies and Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael.” It’s smoother and sexier. Nor is this simply question of genre. Justin Vernon, of the folk pop group Bon Iver, recorded a cover of the song with over 40 million views on YouTube, sung in his signature falsetto, that breathed new life into the classic.
The best cover is of “So Small,” recorded by Carrie Underwood on her 2007 album “Carnival Ride.” Although it’s impossible to top Underwood vocally, Herndon’s version in his (not so twangy anymore) baritone works surprisingly well.
Gay country music fans are lucky to have someone like Herndon on a scene and he has solid lineup of classics under his belt. But perhaps it’s better for someone of his stature to forge ahead, rather than revisit the past.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”