There are certain things that people may assume act like oil and water when they’re tossed in together. Say, for example, homosexuality, religious faith and Christian-themed music in a Southern context. But on March 13 a one-of-a-kind event at the Basement listening room will poke some sizable holes in that assumption. It’s called Strange Bedfellows and it’s an evening of performances and interviews with some ofNashville’s openly gay and lesbian Christian singers.
Strange Bedfellows promises to be a night for listeningandthinking andlearning. The four acts on the bill will perform first, and then talk about what it means to make music that draws from the complex layers of who they are.
The lineup featuresTRiLiGi, a vocal trio comprised of Steve Morris, Bob Allen and Daniel Vincent that’s sung in venues ranging from the Grand Ole Gospel Café to churches and bars; Jeremy Ryan, a solo vocalist and member of singing group Willing Grace, who’s hosted Channel 5’sOut and About Today news show; Justin Ryan, a vocalist who’s backed Porter Wagoner, Dottie Rambo and Mel Tillis, and who just completed a new solo album of church hymns; andRusti Rae, a singer and songwriter who toured for years in musical theatre productions and now writes her own material.
Ellen Armour, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Associate Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School and director of Vanderbilt’s Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality; and Jewly Hight, a music writer, artist, Vanderbilt Divinity School degree candidate and author of a 2006Nashville Scenearticle on this very topic will interview the performers.
Strange Bedfellows starts at 7 p.m. and it’s a free event co-sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Religion and Culture as part of the God in Music City event series and Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality.
For moreinformation on the God in Music City series, go to http://www.godinmusiccity.org/.
Media Contacts: Jewly Hight, jewly@earthlink.net
Jim Patterson (615) 322-NEWS
jim.paterson@vanderbilt.edu