Welcome back to Adobe & Teardrops! This is the second to last episode of the podcast (for real this time) but don’t worry — I have an exciting project planned. In the meantime, we’re running with another round of Jewish country music, as requested by Twitter!
I keep stumbling across country music that is related to being Jewish, as opposed to country music by Jewish people, but since Becky Warren posted about Purim last week, I figured her song “Good Luck (You’re Gonna Need It)” is as good a place to start as any. Warren’s got a fantastic sense of humor and a quiet rage against injustice, which makes this song fitting for Purim.
- Becky Warren — “Good Luck (You’re Gonna Need It)” (The Sick Season)
- Nessi Gomes — “As You Will (Hine Ani)” (Single)
- Lily Henley — “Morena Me Llaman” (Single)
I honestly don’t know how I found out about Nessi Gomes’ song “As You Will;” a lot of you very helpfully pass along Jewish country music to me and then I don’t write down my sources. So…thank you very much to whomever tipped me off! We also heard from Lily Henley is going to be releasing her album of Ladino music, Oras Dezaoradas, on May 6th.
I put all the Yiddish and Ladino in the middle so I only have to trip over a few pronunciations. Tsibele is part of a small but fierce movement of queer anarchist Yiddish punks. We’ll start the set with “Di Svet Shop” — pretty sure you can translate that — and then we’ll get a sort of update of Jewish folk music with Israeli country singer Omer Netzer’s “Country Boy.”
- Tsibele — “Di Svet Shop (The Sweat Shop)” (It’s Dark Outside)
- Omer Netzer — “Country Boy” (Single)
- Miriam Margles – “Kuma” (Rise Up)
I think e can get into a longer conversation about the use of country music as an imperialist tool, particularly in Israel where claiming a rural heritage is extra fraught in light of the occupation of Palestine…but on a surface level, it’s nice to hear a country song reference God and not feel completely alienated by it; just a wee bit squicked out. But with that, we close the set with Miriam Margles’ “Kuma.” Margles is part of the Hadar Institute, which I learned about after putting these playlists together and I’ve become obsessed with. If you like what you heard, the Institute has a whole stable of talented artists who are applying American roots music to Jewish spirituality, and we’ll hear from Aly Halpert, another artist on the label or collective, at the end of the show.
For now, I want to get into a mini set of Americana artists with a lot of exciting music coming up soon. Mya Byrne, whom I interviewed a few weeks ago (see link in show notes). Mya and one of my other favorite Twitter friends Lindsey Graves wrote what I’m pretty sure is the first and only queer country Hanukkah song. Here’s “Inflatable Menorah.”
- Mya Byrne — “Inflatable Menorah” (Single)
- Elliah Heifetz — “Living Proof” (First Generation American)
- Austin Lucas — “Different Shade of Red” (Stay Reckless)
After Mya we heard from Elliah Heifetz with his song “Living Proof,” off his upcoming album First Generation American. The album will be out this Friday and it’s really a wonderful journey. Heifetz is also a musical theater lyricist, and you can hear that storytelling in his songwriting. Rounding us out was Austin Lucas’ song “Different Shade of Red” from his incredible album Stay Reckless. The song is about the romance between his father, a Midwesterner, and his mother, a Jewish New Yorker.
Thank you so much to The Lost Church Radio for having us on their internet waves. You can catch Adobe & Teardrops on Sundays at 1 PM Eastern/10 AM PST.
You can support Adobe & Teardrops by buying merch or hitting the ol’ Patreon or Ko-fi links! The podcast may be ending, but your donations will fund Rainbow Rodeo, the queer country zine, newsletter, and more media formats to come (hint, hint.) Thanks to Alma Contra for making the introduction.
We’re going to close this episode with Aly Halpert’s “She Is On Her Way,” which is playing in my head on loop. Halpert is queer and this song emphasizes that identity. The song is from her upcoming album Loosen, which will be out right before Passover on April 11. As we prepare for Passover, I thought this was the perfect way to end: demanding a better world, and taking it upon ourselves to make it that way.
- Aly Halpert — “She Is On Her Way” (Loosen)