There is something distinctively charming about listening to a bearded, glasses-clad, hipster cowboy singing songs about ponies–in a venue also called Pony. Sad Mag caught up with Tenderfoot before his afternoon ‘salon’ show at Seattle’s most geometrically acute gay bar.
How long have you been playing as your current project and where are you from?
I’ve been making music under the name Tenderfoot for 5 years now, with different iterations of bands and accompaniment. I was born in Valdosta, GA and grew up in the South until I was 21, then made my way up north to the Detroit, MI area where I Iived for 6 years. After living on the road for a year with a partner in a vintage travel trailer, I spent some time in San Francisco, then finally settled in the PNW.
What draws you to ‘Mo-Wave?
I love the artistic diversity Mo-Wave represents in their line-ups and events. There are so many ways to be a queer artist, and the festival crew really tries to cover the spectrum of the more underground and above-ground queer movements. Mixing in internationally recognized headliners with local queer bands and artists helps elevate everyone involved, and pollinates our scene creatively.
What do you think can be done to make more stages for queer artists?
I think queer artists need to make their own stages. I just finished a small tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and met with a lot of movers-and-shakers in the queer creative community. I’ve noticed a cultural trend: people are thinking smaller and bigger at the same time. Small, well-curated art & music shows are popping up in backyards, homes and dive bars, and these smaller shows resonate on larger levels through word-of-mouth and online. As has been the historical norm for queer artists, we can’t really wait for people to be ready for us and what we have to offer, we just have to do it ourselves.
To read more about Tenderfoot and his Whitmanesque ways, check out his website here: http://tenderfootmusic.com/