Following an awesomely evocative musical introduction through his debut LP Pony, the first time your Austin Music Minute maven had the pleasure of seeing Orville Peck perform live was last year in KUTX’s Studio 1A, full band in tow. Peck’s show scheduled at the Mohawk that night had just sold out before the interview started.
The topic at hand: The universality of the music – the connections felt by Peck’s LGBTQIA+ fanbase and non-queer-identifying fans alike. Though the heart-spun torch and twang may not be a new thing, it shines more brightly with every generation.
“I just set out to make kind of what I think is a classic country record, which is predominantly about storytelling,” Peck told your AMM host.”The country I grew up loving was very much about just that – bold storytelling with theatrics, and drama, and heartbreak, and all the things we kind of associate with country. But the thing that really stood out for me…country music has a sincerity that runs through it as well, that really appealed to me, especially as a marginalized weird kid who was kind of a loner.”
Peck reshapes the soundscape and mindset of country with heart-melting vocals and all the sparkling finesse of a nudie suit. It’s classic country, Roy Orbison croon-and-swoon, and Bobby Gentry storytelling mystique, all rolled into one.
This year, Peck released a follow-up EP, Show Pony, and you’ll get to hear the new music on Orville Peck’s 2nd Annual Rodeo livestream performance, starting at 8 p.m. (Central) tomorrow night, Saturday August 29. It’s made even more fabulous with performances by Evil, Dale Hallow and the Long Con, your AMM maven’s most fave vampiric beauty Louisiana Purchase, and universal mega-goddess Miss Toto.
I mean, WOW. Tickets are available at Veeps.
-Photography by Julia Reihs for KUTX.