Today we’d like to introduce you to John Rodney.
Hi John, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up just south of Raleigh In Garner, North Carolina. My Grandparents moved there in the 1970’s, so we’re one of the older families that were there before it became the ever expanding suburb that it is today. No one in my family played music, but there was a huge appreciation for classic country. I grew up on Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, but I really rejected a lot of that stuff until I got older. Teenage angst hit me like a Mac truck and I got big into Hardcore/emo music. Back then you could find me on Hillsborough street any given weekend with skinny jeans and a swooped haircut. I was either in the pit at the brewery or attempting to sneak into all the other bars on that strip like Sadlac’s or the dive bar. Trying to see some band or another. None of those places exist anymore, and a lot of them were gone before I turned 21. Raleigh was a very different place back then and I’m glad I got to see the end of an era on Hillsborough street.
I got my start in music doing vocals and writing lyrics for bands in high school and college. I was always writing poetry and short stories from a young age. Music and songwriting was a natural transition from there. I was doing more screaming than singing back then, but I truly loved being on stage. It was cathartic and when I felt most myself. My taste in music expanded as I got older and I started playing the acoustic guitar. Various projects came and went, but I nothing ever stuck. It wasn’t until about 4 years ago that I went through a massive identity crisis and started writing songs again to try make sense of it. I fell in love with old country music, and by going back to my roots, I’ve been able to rediscover myself in ways that I never thought possible. It’s become a way for me to feel grounded in who I am as a person.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My 20’s were a wild and difficult time for me. I was coming to terms with being queer after staying closeted for most of my adolescence. I was extremely mentally ill and unmedicated. I had a strained relationship with my family. At different times I was homeless and living in a car. I went out to California and ran completely out of money. to get from place to place I would busk on the sidewalk or at gas stations. I made my way up north and got a job on a farm, and that’s really what got me back on my feet. I came back east, but I didn’t get stable and medicated until recent years. That’s when I finally got back to my roots and fell in love with country music and it’s when I started writing consistently. I’m a firm believer that you have to have life experience to be able to write interesting songs. It’s been a long, bumpy road, but now I’ve got a lot of stories to tell.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a country music songwriter, a farmer by trade, a southerner by birth, and I choose to be proudly out as a queer person by the grace of God. My EP, “Songs From The Closet,” are stories told from the perspective of a redneck about what it’s like to be a queer person growing up in the south. These songs discuss the injustices and oppressiveness of conservative Christian hegemony while pointing out the comedic absurdity of heteronormativity and homophobia as it applies to southern culture. I wasn’t certain what the reaction would be, but for now it seems to have built more bridges than it’s burned, and I think the comedic tone I take is a central part of that. What sets these songs apart from others in the niche “queer country” genre is that they stay true to the old country sound. I would say most contemporary artist writing about similar themes tend to bend the genre in a pop direction. I aim to go in every direction but there
How do you think about luck?
I think I’ve been extremely lucky to have the life that I do. There’s been many hardships along the way, but the fact that I’m still standing is a testament to the cards I’ve been dealt. When it comes to music, I’ve been truly privileged to have friends that believed in my songs enough to record and produce them at a fraction of what it should cost, in addition to the many friends that have recorded a multitude of instruments and brought this music to life. I could never have done this all on my own.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Johnrodneymusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnrodneymusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14ywM1bbUKU/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@johnrodneymusic
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnrodneymusic
