When one thinks of the country music genre, many ideas may come to mind, but queer identity is most likely not one of them. Originally from Kansas, 36-year-old singer-songwriter Chris Housman enjoys embracing his country roots while also proudly embracing his gay identity. His 2024 album Blueneck includes songs like “Drag Queen” and “Guilty as Sin.. He also has a popular 2025 song called “Hidin’ Somethin.”
When Houseman is not working on solo music, he is working with his country music trio group The CogGays. Today, Chris discusses his artistry, the industry’s shortcomings, and hopes for the country music industry for queer people.
Hello, Chris! I’m excited to be talking with you today!
Chris Housman: Me as well! Thank you!
So there’s obviously a fierce love you have for music. Where did your love of performing come from? When did you start performing?
CH: I would say it kind of happened simultaneously! My love for writing music and performing, that is. When I was 7, I used to go to these jam sessions with my family all of the time. And then there was this older guy there that played the fiddle that I just thought was the coolest thing ever! I decided I wanted to play the fiddle just like him, and so I asked my parents for a fiddle. Santa got me one that year for Christmas. So then it kind of just took off running from there! I did my first show by the time I was 8!
Took off running, indeed!
CH: And the next thing I knew, we started a little family band! So the performing really took off. The songwriting, I guess, came a bit later, when I was around 16. Before that I didn’t even realize, really connect, that you could write your own songs, too. Songwriting has kind of become the favorite thing of mine to do.
I love that! Do you remember any of the songs you used to perform as a family?
CH: Oh my gosh, yeah! I think our first song that we did was “Hey, Good Looking,” by Hank Williams. Just a lot of gold country songs like that. The first song I learned on the fiddle was called “Boil Them Cabbage Down.” It’s an old fiddle tune. We performed anything from those to like ‘90s country songs, and then a lot of gospel in there as well.
What does it mean for you to be a gay country artist in the U.S. in 2026?
CH: I definitely haven’t chosen the easiest career path. For me it means a lot of reclaiming the country music I grew up on. I want to write a narrative that I think a lot of people have experienced but maybe haven’t heard represented in country music. The most important thing for me is to create a space where people feel welcome in a genre that they haven’t been before. I don’t think there’s a genre of music that should make people feel excluded, but country music I think has, unfortunately, done that.
Do you feel your voice is sort of needed now more than ever?
CH: In this political climate, I do. I think voices like mine, and other queer voices, are needed now more than ever. This is especially with all the anti-LGTBQ, and especially anti-trans, legislation that’s going on all over the country. Here in Tennessee, they just passed a bill that’s moving forward to not recognize same-sex marriage. It feels like you take a step forward, and maybe a step or two back. So I think using our voices and our platforms to let people feel they’re not alone, as much as it can feel like that, is so wildly important right now!
Do you think anything has substantially changed since your career began?
CH: In a lot of ways it feels like it’s been a long way, because I can’t tell you what it would’ve meant to me if I saw a queer country artist on CMT growing up. Even now, it’s still not as prevalent as I’d like to see it, especially in things like country radio, which can feel so gate-kept. There are artists like myself and others who are able to at least get their voices heard a little bit. I still think the industry believes there’s not really an audience for queer country, but we’re having to prove them wrong, little by little. In country radio, they’re actually playing less women than they were in the ‘90s! It used to be 50/50; now it’s like 23% — a statistic that doesn’t make me feel great. That’s not even to mention people of color that are queer country artists. We definitely still have a long way to go.
Tell me about your “Drag Queen” song. Did anyone inspire that song?
CH: That song was heavily inspired by one of my dear friends and a local drag queen named Kennedy Ann Scott, or Miss Kennedy. She’s a teacher by day and was literally winning teacher of the year awards; so beloved by all the parents! And at night she was a drag queen, often hosting several shows a week. When Tennessee was passing an anti-drag bill a few years ago, I just felt a calling and obligation to write that song. I wanted to portray the beauty of a drag queen or a trans person in a small town kind of light. I was trying to make people in my hometown understand that, even if they’d never seen a drag show! Very heavily inspired by real events.
In one of your songs — “Hidin’ Somethin’” — a revenge story of a straight woman on her closeted, cheating husband. I was curious if it was meant to portray camaraderie between straight women and gay men.
CH: One of my biggest influences growing up, and still to this day, is The Chicks. They have that song “Goodbye, Earl,” and I’ve always wanted my own version of that song. So “Hidin’ Somethin’” is 100% that. “Goodbye, Earl” absolutely shows that camaraderie between two female best friends, so with my song I wanted to show that camaraderie that I have always had with my best girlfriends who’ve always had my back, and I’ll always have theirs. It’s also just a little nod to one of the biggest allies in country music, The Chicks!
What would be a piece of advice [you’d] give an aspiring gay country artist in 2026?
CH: I would say, no matter how much it can feel like country music, or any kind of music in the industry someone is doing, no matter how much it feels like people don’t want you to be yourself, that’s the most important part. And it can be hard to find out; it took me about a decade too long of watering myself down to realize sharing my real life experience is the thing that makes anybody’s story special.
Authenticity is beautiful, and there’s so many shared emotions and experiences, difficulties and triumphs that we go through in that. Sorry if that was a long-winded answer, but, yeah — just be 110% yourself!
Anything else you would like to say to your fans?
CH: I have a new single that just came out in April, and a new album coming out in fall 2026!
Fans of Chris Housman and the country genre have something to look forward to as Chris continues to prove country music is for everyone.
