Ten years ago, Stephin Merritt told me, “I do a lot of conventional things, but I don’t do them conventionally.” That makes sense considering Merritt’s newest The Magnetic Fields recording, “50 Song Memoir,” with his longtime musical partner Claudia Gonson.
Pioneering out rock band Boys’ Entrance is releasing a double album this month entitled “Tunnelvision.” The queer rock opera set in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic centers on openly gay rocker Tim and his tumultuous relationship with a closeted fan, Troy, which quickly spirals into a roller coaster of break-ups and make-ups, drugs, alien encounters and one of the men becoming a rent boy.
Fans of big-band music will have a reason to venture out next week when out Philadelphia theater star and singer Jeff Coon and his Summer Club swing into action for a special 17-piece big-band orchestra performance Dec. 5 in Manayunk. The show will feature appearances from other Philly area singers, including Ben Dibble, JP Dunphy, Fran Prisco, Kenita Miller and Michael Philip O’Brien.
Heart Harbor recently released a new single written in honor of those affected by this summer’s shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
Alt-folk-country group Indiana Queen recently launched a new album and an accompanying film, “Summon Without Sorrow,” continuing to blaze a path for queer voices into the traditionally conservative genre of country music.
