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Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to Willka f Daily with

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Speaker 1: me your girl Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker.

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Speaker 1: You know, folks, I will say this that today's interview

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Speaker 1: is with a country music artist, Brooke Eden, who back

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one came out and you know, has

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Speaker 1: since married the love of her life and has continued

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Speaker 1: to try and push the industry and her genre of music,

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Speaker 1: country music, to be more open and inclusive. Sometimes even

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Speaker 1: as a person like me who got their start really

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Speaker 1: in politics with the fight for same sex Mayory Mage

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Speaker 1: and marriage equality, that an LGBTQ writes as a whole

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Speaker 1: that I forget how important it is to tell the

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Speaker 1: stories of what it means to come out or as

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Speaker 1: some say these days, invite people in right. And the

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Speaker 1: fact is that without the courage and support of either

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Speaker 1: your family, your chosen family, or friends, it can be

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Speaker 1: so terrifying and in some areas incredibly dangerous to come out.

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Speaker 1: And I think sometimes that I forget because I live

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Speaker 1: inside of, you know, a liberal bubble, and I live

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Speaker 1: inside of a space where I came out, you know,

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Speaker 1: decades ago, and I was fortunate, right because I had

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Speaker 1: the love and support of my parents, of my sister,

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Speaker 1: of you know, my friends who wanted nothing for me

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Speaker 1: but to live a happy, whole and full life. And

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Speaker 1: because I can be so removed from the day to

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Speaker 1: day experiences of younger people who are just making these decisions,

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Speaker 1: I think that it is really important to still lift

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Speaker 1: up for those young people the first, you know, the

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Speaker 1: first of people to come out to know that like

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Speaker 1: they can aspire to be country music artists, rap stars, actors, actresses,

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Speaker 1: you know, heads of state and live full and complete lives.

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Speaker 1: And so today's conversation I talk with country music artist

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Speaker 1: Brooke Eden about her coming out, about what she thinks

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Speaker 1: about the country music genre and how it has been

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Speaker 1: changing or not changing over the years. And so that

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Speaker 1: conversation with Brooke Eden is coming up next, folks. I

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Speaker 1: am very excited to welcome to OKF Daily for the

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Speaker 1: very first time. Brooke Eden, who is a country music

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Speaker 1: singer and songwriter and has both auditioned for American Idol

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Speaker 1: and Different Seasons, is signed by Red Bow Records and

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Speaker 1: is one of still the very few out LGBTQ country

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Speaker 1: music artists. Brooke welcome, Thank you. I want to talk

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Speaker 1: first you came out a couple of years ago, and

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Speaker 1: I want to give you the opportunity to tell our audience. One,

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Speaker 1: you know, we are living in dicey times. I don't

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Speaker 1: need to tell you. For LGBTQ people across this country,

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Speaker 1: where you know, coming out has been has never been easy.

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Speaker 1: But now when you have governors and you know, leading

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Speaker 1: candidates who are condemning LGBTQ people, who are making them

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Speaker 1: a target, it's become more dangerous than ever. And so

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Speaker 1: what prompted you to come out?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is very scary times right now.

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Speaker 3: But I, for me, I was in the closet.

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Speaker 2: I had met my now wife five years before I

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Speaker 2: came out. When I first met her, I was told

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Speaker 2: that if I wanted to keep my record deal, then

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Speaker 2: we needed to stay in the closet. If you know,

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Speaker 2: I ever wanted to be a country singer in general,

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Speaker 2: I needed to keep that part of me quiet. And

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Speaker 2: so we did that. We you know, did that to

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Speaker 2: the best of our ability, tried to. You know, I said,

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Speaker 2: he and him and my songs when talking about a

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Speaker 2: you know, romantic partner, and it just got to a point.

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Speaker 2: You know, as an artist you are and a songwriter

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Speaker 2: you know, your whole job is to be authentic, and

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Speaker 2: you know, write about your life and talk about your

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Speaker 2: life and you know, have that relatability with your fans.

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Speaker 2: And I felt like I could only do that to

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Speaker 2: a certain level. And then, you know, of course, on

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Speaker 2: top of that, just like human ing was hard having conversations,

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Speaker 2: you know, in interviews, trying to talk about a song

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Speaker 2: that I wrote, or talk about my life, and I

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Speaker 2: was so terrified that I was going to say the

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Speaker 2: wrong pronoun. And also, you know, my now wife and

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Speaker 2: I were five years in and we wanted to start

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Speaker 2: taking those steps that you know, every other you know,

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Speaker 2: a heterosexual couple gets to take like it's no big deal.

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Speaker 2: We wanted to get engaged, we wanted to start family planning.

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Speaker 2: We you know, we wanted to start, and it just

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Speaker 2: felt like there was no way to do that other

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Speaker 2: than for me coming out.

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Speaker 3: And I knew at some point it.

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Speaker 2: Was like during I felt like I was coming out

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Speaker 2: little by little, you know, like I would be sure

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Speaker 2: of us and you know, like call her beautiful or

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Speaker 2: something like that, you know, but I hadn't fully.

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Speaker 3: Come out until twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 2: And it was during twenty twenty I was reading Untamed

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Speaker 2: by Glenn Dry and.

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Speaker 1: Oh, I love that book. I love that book.

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Speaker 2: That book for me was completely life changing, and I'm

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Speaker 2: sure it is for many, many many people that read

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Speaker 2: it for different reasons. But for me, it was a

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Speaker 2: paragraph about integrity, and she just, you know, very basically

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Speaker 2: defined integrity.

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Speaker 3: As being to the world who you are in your home.

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Speaker 2: And I realized that I was living my life with

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Speaker 2: no integrity and that hit me like it was one

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Speaker 2: of bricks, because I felt like I was staying in

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Speaker 2: the closet in order.

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Speaker 3: To save something.

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Speaker 2: Right, I'm saving my career, I'm saving this scary nightmare

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Speaker 2: of a reaction that I could get from the country

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Speaker 2: music industry. And I realized that I was sacrificing myself,

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Speaker 2: my integrity, and I could possibly be sacrificing my relationship

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Speaker 2: in the long run if I didn't start being truthful

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Speaker 2: and being real. And so I knew, you know, I

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Speaker 2: knew that it could be the end of my career.

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Speaker 2: I knew that it could. You know, there's so many

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Speaker 2: negative things that can come from it, but there's also

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Speaker 2: so many positive things that could come from it. And

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Speaker 2: I knew that at this point in twenty twenty was

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Speaker 2: like October of twenty twenty that I was reading that book,

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Speaker 2: and I knew that at this point it was my

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Speaker 2: only option because I had gotten sick, I had ulcers

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Speaker 2: be from you know, hidings, that's part of me. And

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Speaker 2: it was super stressful, and I was sacrificing my health.

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Speaker 2: I was sacrificing my mental health, and then I was

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Speaker 2: sacrificing living my life truthfully and authentically. And so there

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Speaker 2: just there just came a point where I was like,

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Speaker 2: you know, what if if I'm feeling this way, there

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Speaker 2: are probably other people that are also feeling this way,

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Speaker 2: and maybe this won't be a scary nightmare of a consequence.

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Speaker 2: Maybe it can be positive for not only me, but

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Speaker 2: for others who are, you know, seeking some kind of

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Speaker 2: light and some kind of hope.

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Speaker 3: And so I remember that.

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Speaker 2: Day I was reading that paragraph and untamed and I

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Speaker 2: told Hillary, my wife. I was like, I have to

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Speaker 2: come out, and she was like, well, holy hell, Like

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Speaker 2: it's about damn time, you know. And I started calling

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Speaker 2: my team after that. I called my management, I called

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Speaker 2: my record label, and I was like, y'all, we're getting

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Speaker 2: ready to release more music next year. And I just

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Speaker 2: don't feel like I can release this music without releasing

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Speaker 2: it as me and I know that there could be

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Speaker 2: negative consequences to this, and I need you to be

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Speaker 2: on my team and just know that I understand the

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Speaker 2: implications of this one way or the other. And luckily

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Speaker 2: my team looked at me and they said, we've got you,

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Speaker 2: We've got your back, and let's do this. And so, yeah,

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Speaker 2: I came out, I guess like sometime early twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 2: and I was met with love and open arms.

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Speaker 3: And it's been really, really.

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Speaker 2: Beautiful to see the country music industry slowly open it's

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Speaker 2: heart and eyes and arms to the queer community.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I thank you so much for sharing that,

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Speaker 1: because everybody's coming out or inviting in. Everybody's story is different,

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Speaker 1: you know, but what it is the thread that carries

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Speaker 1: through is the fear of not being accepted, of not

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Speaker 1: being held, of space not being created for you, and

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Speaker 1: in very awful circumstances, being met with violence.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk to you about the country music

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Speaker 1: industry or industry which you know, for those on the

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Speaker 1: outside who are from marginalized communities, whether you are black

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Speaker 1: or Latin X or you know, or queer or what

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Speaker 1: have you. From the outside, it has seemed to be

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Speaker 1: a very white, straight, good old boys club right where

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Speaker 1: you had and forgive me because I can't remember his name,

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Speaker 1: but the country music artists who you know came out

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Speaker 1: with the song you know, don't try this in a

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Speaker 1: small town, hailing kind of violence right in a in

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Speaker 1: a lot of ways and discrimination.

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Speaker 3: And so.

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Speaker 1: How do you feel that shifting? You know, we see

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Speaker 1: different you know, every awards season that comes by, you

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Speaker 1: get an image that seems just a little peppering of

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Speaker 1: other kinds of people, of other differently looking people. But

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Speaker 1: how do you how do you see your industry, this

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Speaker 1: genre kind of shifting and changing over time?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that one of the most important things

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Speaker 2: that we have specifically in country music. I'm sure it's

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Speaker 2: in other genres as well, but for country music, you know,

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Speaker 2: the gatekeepers, if you will, they have changed over the

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Speaker 2: last few years. And you have people who want diversity

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Speaker 2: and inclusion.

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Speaker 3: And want.

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Speaker 2: People of all backgrounds and all you know, races and

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Speaker 2: religious affiliations and political affiliations and sexual orientations, gender identities.

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Speaker 2: They want them to be able to be seen in

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Speaker 2: country music.

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Speaker 3: That's what's changing.

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Speaker 2: Is that these you know, these people who make the

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Speaker 2: big decisions are meeting with people like us who are different,

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Speaker 2: who have something to say, and are realizing that it's

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Speaker 2: important for the genre in order for the genre to

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Speaker 2: move forward. It's important that we have people that represent America,

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Speaker 2: because white street men don't represent America. And I think

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Speaker 2: that it's really important that we have people in positions

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Speaker 2: of power that are recognizing this dire need for country

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Speaker 2: music to look like our country and to sound like

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Speaker 2: our countries. And I mean it's still a fighting battle,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's still it's not you know, when someone

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Speaker 2: comes out in country music, or when someone comes into

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Speaker 2: the scene that is queer or that is not white,

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Speaker 2: or you know, it's just different than what we're used to.

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Speaker 2: It's still a fighting battle no matter what. Also, women

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Speaker 2: in country music are still you know, it's still like

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Speaker 2: one to twenty I think on country radio, men to men. Oh,

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Speaker 2: I mean it just being a woman in general is

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Speaker 2: difficult in country music.

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Speaker 3: But I think that.

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Speaker 2: You know, we are seeing people in important positions that

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Speaker 2: have the ability to put women on the radio, to

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Speaker 2: put you know, people of a representation of America on

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Speaker 2: the country radio. And I think that that's what's changing,

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Speaker 2: and we're seeing it little by little what we're seeing it,

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Speaker 2: and I think that that's something that we hadn't seen.

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Speaker 3: Pretty much before twenty twenty. Twenty twenty was a really

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Speaker 3: pivotal year for.

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Speaker 2: I think the wole was pulled off of a lot

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Speaker 2: of people's eyes, and I think that it was really important.

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Speaker 2: It was a really important year to see what was

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Speaker 2: important in the world and what we are missing from

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Speaker 2: so much of popular culture, especially in country music.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting because you know, while while we're

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Speaker 1: talking about your genre in particular, I'm kind of like

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Speaker 1: going through different genres and it's it's not as if

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Speaker 1: I can point to other spaces where there are a

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Speaker 1: plethora of lgbt Q artists that are huge, do you

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Speaker 1: know what I'm saying? Like, sure, I can. I can

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Speaker 1: point to a Janelle Monet, who it you know, identifies

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Speaker 1: as pan sexual, right, I can. I can point to,

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Speaker 1: you know, a couple of of of young female rappers

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Speaker 1: who are queer. But when you look at the entirety

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Speaker 1: and you kind of, you know, go across different genres,

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Speaker 1: Country music in that in that respect is fairly on

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Speaker 1: par with with that with other with with other other

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Speaker 1: groups and other genres. And I just you know, if

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Speaker 1: entertainment is about being able to express a narrative and

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Speaker 1: you know, and and and and offer shared experiences, I

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Speaker 1: do still find it quite shocking that it isn't that

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Speaker 1: it's still very much queer people are still very much

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Speaker 1: on the margins of of stardom in these in these

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Speaker 1: genres that that we look to.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I've always said it's interesting how there are a

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Speaker 2: lot of well, you know, you have like Freddie Mercury,

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Speaker 2: you have Elton John, like some of the biggest you know,

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Speaker 2: stars of our time were you know, Elton John is

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Speaker 2: obviously out, but like Freddie Mercury during his life was

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Speaker 2: not and like married to a woman, right, And you know,

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Speaker 2: you have such huge culture and musical icons that have

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Speaker 2: been queer and have also you know, had to keep

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Speaker 2: that to themselves for their entire you know, lifetime and fame.

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Speaker 2: And then you have people now like Miley Cyrus.

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Speaker 1: Or Sam Smith you know, yeah.

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Speaker 3: Sam Smith cets.

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Speaker 2: You know, like you have people just in the last

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Speaker 2: few years that are like Renee Rap. You know, you

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Speaker 2: have people in the last few years that are saying,

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Speaker 2: you know, I'm bisexual or I'm gender fluid or you know,

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Speaker 2: I think I think that what I haven't seen much

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Speaker 2: of is like these people like Miley Cyrus for example.

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Speaker 2: You know, she has said that she was by for

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Speaker 2: quite some time, but you only ever see her in

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Speaker 2: the public eye with a boyfriend, right, Yeah, And I

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Speaker 2: am so interested to see as time goes by how

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Speaker 2: much that changes. You know, you have Renee Rapp who

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Speaker 2: came out of the gate as a pop singer, you know,

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Speaker 2: who said I'm bisexual, I'm going to sing about women,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to sing about men, And like, I think

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Speaker 2: that that's been such a breath of fresh air because

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Speaker 2: she didn't come out and like be she wasn't. It

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Speaker 2: didn't seem like she was scared about it. It just

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Speaker 2: felt like she was like, this is who I am,

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Speaker 2: and this is great. Billie Eilish just came out as queer,

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Speaker 2: you know, one of the biggest, you know, pop stars

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Speaker 2: of today. So I am interested to see how these

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Speaker 2: next few years are going to you know, shape into

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Speaker 2: pop culture and hopefully how people of you know, all

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Speaker 2: sexual orientations and gender identities will be able to hear

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Speaker 2: their stories in music.

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Speaker 1: As that gender right and not have to, you know,

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Speaker 1: because my question for you too is like, how do

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Speaker 1: you your music, you know, and in the stories that

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Speaker 1: you tell shifting over time because again, you know, we're

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Speaker 1: accustom in communities that are not part of the mainstream

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Speaker 1: having to imagine ourselves and stories and in movies and

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Speaker 1: different things. We don't readily have it reflected back. And

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Speaker 1: so how how do you see your art you know?

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Speaker 1: Or have you seen it, you know, shift over the

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Speaker 1: last couple of years since you've come out, Oh, I

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Speaker 1: mean tremendously.

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Speaker 2: It starts with the songwriting, and I remember walking into

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Speaker 2: songwriting sessions and just going here we go again. I'm

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Speaker 2: writing a song about, you know, the love of my

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Speaker 2: life who became my wife, and I'm using heat Heim pronouns.

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Speaker 2: It's the most suffocating feeling when you're going into those

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Speaker 2: writing sessions and you feel like, you know, you're writing

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Speaker 2: about this great love, but I can't really.

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Speaker 3: Talk about it. And now every single writing session that

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Speaker 3: I go into, I.

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Speaker 2: Know they know that I am married to a woman,

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Speaker 2: and that's what we're going to be writing about if

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Speaker 2: we're writing about love, and I don't even think about

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Speaker 2: it twice now and that has changed me as a

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Speaker 2: writer because not only am I able to say, you know,

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Speaker 2: you know, talk about her and write about her, but

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Speaker 2: everything is more open. The walls have come down, and

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Speaker 2: it has made me a better writer. It's made me

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Speaker 2: a better artist. I mean, my first single that I

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Speaker 2: had out to country radio, you know, I talked about

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Speaker 2: cologne in it, even though I was dating a woman

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Speaker 2: at the time.

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Speaker 3: And now I.

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Speaker 2: Just would never ever do that. I would never think

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Speaker 2: twice about saying her in my songs.

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Speaker 3: And there is a huge freedom in that.

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Speaker 2: And I think think the biggest thing for me is

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Speaker 2: when we came out with When I came out, I

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Speaker 2: wanted to be visible, and I wanted to be representation

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Speaker 2: for my community, not only sonically but also visually. And

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Speaker 2: so the first three songs that I released, my wife

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Speaker 2: is in them with me, and those music videos are

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Speaker 2: on country music television. And I've had so many people

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Speaker 2: reach out to me and say, you know, I listen

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Speaker 2: to CMT. I watch CMT every morning or you know,

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Speaker 2: every Saturday morning with my family. And today was the

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Speaker 2: first time that I had ever seen two girls holding hands,

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Speaker 2: two girls kissing, like a real love story.

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Speaker 3: That looked like mine and to me, that is what's

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Speaker 3: so important, you know.

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Speaker 2: I think Orange is the New Black was the first

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Speaker 2: time that I saw a lesbian on this TV screen,

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Speaker 2: and that changed my perspective because I was like.

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Speaker 3: Oh, wow, you know this looks like me. You know,

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Speaker 3: this looks like my love. And so.

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Speaker 2: I think that seeing that and people being able to

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Speaker 2: see themselves in music videos and hear themselves in songs,

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Speaker 2: it gives them this permission to be themselves and that

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Speaker 2: was really really important to me.

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Speaker 1: Brook I one, I just want to applaud your courage

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Speaker 1: in you know, in making the very personal decision to

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Speaker 1: come out, but also to bring your fans and an

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Speaker 1: industry along on your journey, because I do think that

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Speaker 1: it is very important for people to be able to

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Speaker 1: see you know, happy, healthy, you know LGBTQ people and

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Speaker 1: that their life and their love is possible, right And

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Speaker 1: I don't think that we can take that ever for granted,

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Speaker 1: because there are people, you know, in all states, you know,

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Speaker 1: in all places, that still struggle because they face so

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Speaker 1: much headwinds in their ability to be themselves. So I

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Speaker 1: just want to thank you also for making the time

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Speaker 1: to join wok F really really appreciate you sharing your

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Speaker 1: story and hope that you continue to push your industry

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Speaker 1: into a place of acceptance.

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Speaker 2: We will continue to push those boundaries and thank you

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Speaker 2: for doing what you're doing.

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Speaker 3: It's so important.

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Speaker 1: That is it for me today. Dear friends on wok

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Speaker 1: f as always power to the people and to all

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Speaker 1: the people power, get woke and stay wolke as spot