Hear Justin Hiltner’s Gay Bluegrass at Banjo.gay

Justin Hiltner is a banjo player and songwriter based in Nashville, TN. An activist and proponent of inclusion and visibility in roots music, he produced the first-ever showcase of diversity in bluegrass, now an annual event at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s business conference. Justin also authors the eponymous “Shout & Shine” interview series, which focuses on underrepresented and marginalized identities in roots music, for The Bluegrass Situation.

A full-length album, Watch It Burn, made with friend, co-writer, and bluegrass renaissance man Jon Weisberger, was released on Robust Records in August 2018. Justin’s debut solo album — a collection of stripped down, unencumbered originals — is awaiting release in Fall 2021. Additionally, two Dolly Parton covers, inspired by Justin’s appearance on Dolly Parton’s America, were just released on April 30.

To help share his music online and proudly proclaim his identity, Justin registered Banjo.gay! Check out our #DotGayQAndA to learn more about how Justin is making waves as an OUT musician in the folk, bluegrass, and roots music scene.

Your domain Banjo.gay couldn't be more perfect! Tell us how you came up with the idea and managed to secure such a desirable domain name.

As soon as I found out that .gay domains were an option, I knew I needed to grab Banjo.gay. Ever since I moved to Nashville ten years ago, I have (somewhat jokingly) stated over and over that my brand is "sad, gay banjo songs." Banjo.gay really communicates who I am, what I love, and what I prioritize in my music-making and art: gay banjos!!

In an era when many LGBTQ music producers and fans are focusing on electronic sounds, your "queergrass" take on traditional acoustic Americana stands out. What would you say to encourage listeners of contemporary music to take a chance on your "sad, gay banjo songs?"

Roots music, folk music, and vernacular music like bluegrass, country, old-time, and string band music, in general, are musics made by humans who had almost nothing else to lift them out of the stark realities of their day-to-day.

I totally can relate to the feelings that electronic music, pop, hyper-pop, and other dance music evoke in the LGBTQ+ community, and the importance of music and movement to queer spaces and the queer rights movement can't really be overstated, but roots music – these more folky, acoustic, down-home genres – is perfectly poised to include, uplift, and highlight the queer experience. Because roots music is about human beings overcoming hardship, a central pillar of what we call the queer experience!

How has your gay/queer identity influenced your music and your experience in the music industry?

As a queer person who plays banjo, my identity has influenced every single aspect of my career and my interactions with the music industry, in ways that are both visible and invisible.

It's difficult to illustrate all of the many ways my identity has filtered into what I do, from being present in my songwriting and in my on-stage persona to being such a huge part of my activism and my work for inclusion and representation in bluegrass through organizations like Bluegrass Pride.

There are days when I wonder or daydream about what life could be like if my identity didn't need to be present in all of these different avenues of my career, sure, but most of the time I'm so grateful for the perspective and worldview my identity has equipped me with and the ways that that mission guides me through this confusing, often treacherous maze of an industry.

Through your music and journalism, you work to highlight the historically LGBTQ underpinnings of roots music, as well as contemporary LGBTQ performers in the scene. (Your recent Dolly Parton covers, for example, emphasize the LGBTQ themes in her narratives.) Would you share a few of your favorite examples of LGBTQ roots music, past and present?

Yes! I love highlighting queer creators in bluegrass, country, and roots music because it demonstrates two very important points, first that queerness in these rootsy, country, and rural spaces is nothing new. Queer folks have always existed in all communities, whether their identities have been visible to those communities or not. And second, that there are truly dozens and dozens of queer country and folk artists out there!

The three or four who have captured a certain level of notoriety and fame at this point are excellent musicians and artists, to be sure, but there is a vibrant, fully-realized, strong, interconnected community of queer folks in roots music genres making livings in these less-than-stereotypically queer spaces that deserve just as much attention and celebration as the most famous folks making queer country today.

For a queer country forebear, there's none better than Patrick Haggerty, AKA Lavender Country. He's been around making queer country for longer than just about anybody.

Folks should also check out Karen & the Sorrows, Amythyst Kiah, Rainbow Girls, Allison Russell, Sam Gleaves, Jake Blount, Amanda Fields, and so many more – you can also find queer roots musicians through Bluegrass Pride, a non-profit organization I help run that celebrates and uplifts queer folks making country, bluegrass, old-time, and other roots musics!

Why is support for the arts, culture, and nightlife so important for the well-being of LGBTQ people?

The overlay of a pandemic really helps put into perspective why the arts are such a critical pillar of the queer community: they're a gathering point, a kernel around which community can coalesce.

As queerness enjoys a more mainstream profile than perhaps any other time in human history, it's easy to see how a lack of queer spaces that don't center on sexuality or alcohol could end up hobbling the queer community in the long run.

We need music, art, creation, sharing — all of these important human activities — to keep us connected, engaged, and supporting one another. Having so many of these spaces taken from us during the pandemic has further impressed this point. We all need queer spaces to inhabit with each other, and I hope plenty of those spaces can be roots music spaces, too!

Why is it important to help create a safer internet for LGBTQ people, and how do you see a safer LGBTQ internet influencing the physical world we inhabit?

A safer internet for LGBTQ+ folks has already had an enormous impact on the physical and cultural worlds we inhabit!

Vibrant, inclusive, artful online communities centered on Tumblr, TikTok, Reddit, and beyond have shown just what beauty and good can be given to the world when LGBTQ+ folks are permitted to exist unencumbered by the otherness of our identities.

By creating, staking out, and maintaining safer spaces for everyone on the internet, we give folks an opportunity to find community and to root themselves in the idea that they aren't alone.

As a queer banjo player, I know how it feels to think you're totally alone in the combination of disparate parts that add up to an identity. A safer internet can really viscerally and tangibly demonstrate to folks that they aren't alone – what a powerful thing!

Even if, like me, you went through a period of time wondering if you were the ONLY person in the world who liked the music you liked, you can still have the life-changing realization that you aren't alone and that you've found your people. Why wouldn't we want to give that feeling to as many people as possible?

Thank you Justin for sharing your art and advocacy with the world! To learn more about Justin Hiltner and hear his music, visit Banjo.gay!