Jeffrey Masters, broadcaster

Right back in ye olde podcasting days, I listened to just three shows – RuPaul and Michelle Visage's What's the Tee?, the BBC's Desert Island Discs, and the interview series LGBTQ&A, presented by Jeffrey Masters.

A GLAAD Award-winning broadcaster, Jeffrey's compassionate and curious nature shines through in his conversations with a ludicrously long list of queer legends, but it's his turn to take the interviewee seat for Tracks of Our Queers. 

We discuss music by Little Big Town, Nancy Wilson, and the Indigo Girls.

You can follow LGBTQ&A wherever you listen to podcasts, or find Jeffrey on Instagram here.
 
Listen to all previous guest choices in one handy Spotify playlist, Selections from Tracks of Our Queers and follow the pod on Instagram.

Transcript

Jeffrey Masters
===

Andy Gott: [00:00:00] Hello. My name is Andy Gott, and you're listening to tracks of our queers. Each episode, I chat to a fascinating queer person about one song, one album, and one artists that have soundtrack of our life. Nearly everyone has a connection with music, but the relationship that queer people share with it, it can be a specially profound. And this show seeks to find out why. 

Back in the early days of podcasting, I almost exclusively listened to just three shows. The BBC's Desert island discs. What's the T with RuPaul and Michelle Visage. And LGBTQ and a with Jeffery masters. In 20, 24 and deservedly. 

So. There's a queer podcast for every niche sub genre, you could dream up. You're listening to one of them right now. But back in 2014, Jeffrey Masters was hard at work building a corner of audio storytelling by and for fascinating queer people. Over the years I've heard him skillfully create space for bonafide [00:01:00] legends, like Laverne Cox, Margaret Cho. Billie Jean King, Brandi Carlisle, and truly many more. Beyond the magic of his guests. 

Jeffrey is a compassionate, curious, quick witted queer himself. And it was a pleasure to discuss his own musical influences. 

As this chat was recorded before 2023 blockbuster sensation was released. Bobby, of course we sadly don't discuss the best known track by Jeffrey's artist's selection being used in sensational fashion within the film. You'll know what I'm talking about when you hear it. 

Producing this podcast is very much a one queer band and listen to contributions. Go a huge way in keeping the lights switched on and the show at free. If you're interested in supporting me, you can do so by buying me a coffee through the link in the show notes. Alternatively leaving a rating or review is also greatly appreciated. 

It's a free and easy way to help the podcast reach new listeners. Thank you in advance for your support. 

Enough from me. [00:02:00] Over to Jeffrey.

Hello. My name is Andy Gott, and you're listening to Tracks of Our Queers.

Each episode, I chat to a fascinating queer person about one song, one album, and one artist that have soundtracked their life. 

Back in the early days of podcasting, I almost exclusively listened to just three shows. The BBC's Desert Island Discs, What's the Tea with RuPaul and Michelle Visage, and LGBTQ& A with Jeffrey Masters.

In 2024 and deservingly, so there's a queer podcast for every niche sub-genre you could dream up. But back in 2014. Jeffrey Masters was hard at work building a corner of audio storytelling by and for fascinating queer people.

Over the years, I've heard him skillfully create space for bonafide legends like Laverne Cox, Margaret Cho, Billie Jean King, Brandi Carlile, and truly many more. Beyond the magic of his [00:03:00] guests, Jeffrey is a compassionate, curious, quick witted queer himself, and it was a pleasure to discuss his own musical influences.

Just a heads up, as this chat was recorded before 2023's Blockbuster Sensation release, Barbie of course, we sadly don't discuss the best known track by Jeffree's artist selection being used in incredible fashion in the film. But, you'll survive.

Anyway, enough from me. You

Andy Gott: jeffrey Masters. Welcome to Tracks of our Queers. 

Jeffrey: Hey, thank you. 

Andy Gott: I've heard so many interviews of yours over the years on the I have my different categories of podcast. I have the shows where I'll press play if the subject matter feels interesting to me.

I have the shows I'm subscribed to, but. Don't actually listen to for some strange reason. And then I have the top tier shows, which I will listen to every episode of and L G B T Q and A is firmly that show for me. The standard of guests that you have [00:04:00] interviewed is one I can only hope to reach on this show.

In the last year alone, you've spoken to Janelle Monae, Angela Davis, Harvey Firestein, Margaret Cho, who is truly one of my greatest queeroes, and that's ignoring the archive of the last few years. So I need to know how do you prepare yourself accordingly for these queer legends? Do you make sure you're thoroughly researched or do you go in quite calm and chill?

Jeffrey: All the above. I like prepare my butt off. And then you kind of like have to like almost forget about it in the middle of the interview and like, let it be. What, what's it be? I think it's like two sides. Your brain, right? I'll prepare my butt off so that if. Need beat. I will control the hell outta this interview and take it wherever I need to go.

But ideally you will take it somewhere more interesting. And so it's like the evaluation with every question I have and every follow-up question is, is are we going somewhere more interesting or do I still have like other questions I've prepared that I need asked that are just like burning on me and my listeners' minds?

And so it's [00:05:00] something that I've did this show for, I've done it for five, six years now. Like it, the, the early interview. You hear someone learning on the job? I think I'm, you know, I'm not relining those interviews, but like I definitely got better and like that's ideally like how this should work, I think that preparing for an interview is a like sign of hospitality. It says that I like you, I respect you, I respect your work.

And if I went to talk to. I don't know Pete Buttigieg and I said like, how was your day? What made you wanna get into politics? Question that anyone could ask. He's gonna roll his eyes and not give a shit. Right? So yeah, it's hard.

Andy Gott: So how did you open that interview?

Jeffrey: Pete was a different one because we are in like the height of the election and we had 30 minutes with him and like five. taken up with him walking in the room and me saying, hello, and like, can you sit here? I'll sit here. Here's what's gonna happen. And so that one we like jumped right into it as much as possible and avoided the small talk for the interview.

In that case though, I usually tell the person, Hey, we have 30 minutes and [00:06:00] we've already wasted four of it. I'm gonna jump right into it. And like I tell them that so that they're not shot and we jump right into it. , you know,

Andy Gott: bEfore we get into the music, there's one interview of yours from recent memory, which stuck in my mind in terms of how to navigate you know, the, the time that we are living in as, as queer people, but also being entirely respectful of the different journeys.

Of your, your queer guests. There was an interview with a model Tracy, African Norman, and her response to her lived experience as a trans woman in the time that she lived in, which was, I think she was working in the seventies, early eighties. I, my takeaway from that was well first of all, wow, fascinating, but kind of at odds with what many younger trans people would, would think about their identity.

But regardless of any of this, y your questions were always allowing her to tell her story in an incredibly respectful way and, [00:07:00] and not once casting judgment whether those opinions might be a little bit dated or out of touch with what people are thinking now. 

Jeffrey: I, I appreciate that. I think that similar to, I mean the name of this podcast, queer, you would not have used that 20, maybe 20 years ago you would've, but 50 years ago we would not have used that. Our terms, our language is always changing. . And I thought that was such an interesting example of this woman who she's part of the trans community.

She's trans, she's what we would consider today to be trans. And I'm like stumbling because as she said in the interview, she does not use that word for herself, but she's kind of like, she's I think 71 years old right now. She's slowly coming to terms with the fact that the world around her has changed.

Right. And. Like, I think this is speaking, she would say, I, you know, I don't use that word, but I understand that like, now this is what trans women used to describe themselves, but back then they wouldn't. And so it was that fine line of making sure that of just, I think just being clear and specific [00:08:00] because anybody can identify any way they want.

And like Tracy in that instance is speaking only for on behalf of Tracy Africa, Norman, herself, not the entire trans community, and. I think that's an example where she like threw me off right in the beginning. At the very end. We circled back just because I think everybody listening had those questions.

So you need to have like the collective you, not you the collective you needs to have like that listener in the back of their mind of, oh no, we're heading towards the end of the interview and people still have these question marks. Let's address it before we check

out. 

Andy Gott: Yes, of course. There was that shared experience. So I would love to know, Jeffrey, what was maybe your earliest musical memory?

Jeffrey: I Would love to be one of those people that like discovered like taking back Sunday, like before their friends but I, I really just kind of followed standard pop. Back then, my sister and I shared CDs and I think we had Backstreet Boys in, in Sync and like the, oops, I did it again.

Whatever album that was on maybe it's called that the Britney Spears. Obviously your audience knows that but I had [00:09:00] those, and that's why I just, I didn't realize there was like different types of genres. I just thought there was music and I thought it was just like the music that was on the radio, you know?

But as I. Into my teens, I discovered my, like dad's like Rolling Stone albums rolling Stones, I guess. Rolling Stones, a magazine and I love that I thought you can't always go get what you want, but that, I thought those lyrics were like, you know, just Nobel

Peace prize winning. And so I definitely had that. But yeah, my earliest memory was just like, what was popular at 

the time. 

Andy Gott: And fair enough, I think a lot of our listeners would probably feel the same. So you would maybe say you were less of a seeker of music and possibly more of an observer, absorber, perhaps

Jeffrey: Yeah, like there's like passive, like whatever's on the radio, you know, my, my parents are driving me to school, my sister driving me to school. I don't really get control of that knob.

Andy Gott: Okay, well [00:10:00] speaking of control of knobs yOu were a passive listener, but was there ever something that you listened to or found in, in pop culture, specifically music that maybe did make you feel othered in a sense? Did you ever pick up any sense of a queerness or otherness in the music you were listening to? 

Jeffrey: You know what? I have his distinct memory of Adam Lambert on American Idol. Because like there was like, you know, that couple year period where I, I like millions of people voted for, you know Kelly Clarkson or Fantasia Burino, Adam Lamber. This show just like was the most important thing in pop culture ever. Like I was like, are more people voting for like Adam Lambert than the president and this election?

Like, what's going on here? And Adam Lambert was not allowed to be out of the closet on that show. And it was that time period when it was still like whispered and not exactly being talked about. And so I remember watching that show and being like, that guy is presenting a [00:11:00] little bit queer. But I remember that and it sounds so hilarious now because it's so obvious as queerness, but it was like you.

Say this out loud almost. So it was like, I think he might be gay, but I don't have any confirmation. I just think about that a lot because nowadays anybody, there's queer people on every singing show. Not that I watched them , but um, yeah, I remember being enamored by Adam Lambert and his like straightened hair and

eyelight. 

Andy Gott: I think it's healthy for all of us, to check ourselves, check our memories in terms of how much has changed in such a short relative period of time. I mean, hearing you. Saying that Adam Lambert was not able to discuss his sexuality at all. It was very veiled and cloaked, even though physically it was so obvious.

That really wasn't long ago at all. 

Jeffrey: No, it wasn't. I mean, I, I think all the time about how fast things have changed, but it, it's almost comical to think that when Adam Lambert debuted, in [00:12:00] terms of like the public's mind, there was still a question about his

sexuality. 

Andy Gott: Okay. Onto your selections, could you tell us which track you requested and why? 

Jeffrey: So the track I love is Girl Crush by Little Big Town. Was this a song that you were familiar with before?

Andy Gott: No, I'd 

never heard this song.

Jeffrey: Okay. Actually, Adam Lambert covered it, an award show and it's quite beautiful. That man is disgustingly talented, but girl crush I love it is just this like, It's just a beautiful song. Chevy it's country. I didn't, I grew up in the south and the American South and North Carolina and I didn't realize, like we're talking about like that knob in the car.

Right. I didn't realize that when my sister was driving me to [00:13:00] school she was two years older than me. So in high school we had like two years together. I didn't realize that the music we were listening to was country music actually. And so she then went to college and realized, oh, I like country and little big towns of country band.

Their, their vocals, their harmonies are amazing. And this song about a woman having a girl crush on her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, I think is such like a clever framing of that. Like, well, fuck you, you have my man narrative. And it's one of the like, sexiest and like overtly, I mean, it's like not queer and also like a hundred percent queer at the same time, you know?

Andy Gott: The first time I listened to it, I didn't have any of the context. I didn't read the Wikipedia page. I didn't Google it, and it's intense. It's very, very 

Jeffrey: It's so intense.

Andy Gott: Um, It's like a highly sexually charged Jolene or something but I, I, I do have to admit that I, I wasn't reading the [00:14:00] subtext there and I was actually just interpreting it as like a really hot.

Lesbian, Anthem, , and then reading the Wikipedia page, reading the YouTube comments. I have to say that um, Wikipedia page is in a category on the site called L G B T Related Controversies in Music. Now, that's my kind of Wikipedia category, but what's that all about? Is it is were like people outraged by the assumptions that people were.

Jeffrey: Oh, it was banned from country music. They wouldn't play it on the radio. I mean, I mean, let me read the lyrics. So they're, they're just so wild. I love this. I want to taste your lips. Yeah, cuz they taste like you. Oh no, I'm sorry. I said the wrong layers. Oh, her lips. I want to taste her lips cuz they taste like you.

I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume.[00:15:00] 

Andy Gott: I'm blushing, 

Jeffrey: It is so intense. So country music was like, we're not doing this. Y we don't do this queer shit. This is a summation, you know, allegedly. But, and the band was like, we are straight people singing a song. But like about like, I mean, girl Crush is as like, Opposite of gay as you can get.

Right. It's like a I don't even know how to, like, how to classify girl crush. It's not derogatory, but it's just a little bit like, I promise I'm not gay. It's just a girl

crush kind of thing. Right? 

Andy Gott: Is it a bit like a feminine version of No.

Jeffrey: Yeah, it'd be, yeah. Like no homo. Yeah, absolutely. It would, it would be like my sister having a best friend and jokingly being like, oh my God, we're so close. I have a girl 

crush on her. 

Andy Gott: Right. Okay. 

Jeffrey: Yeah. And country music wouldn't play it.

I think that did change. I think there was a campaign against it. There's, because Nashville Country music, it's very traditional, but it's, it's so intense, you know, queerness aside, even this was a, if this was about a man and a woman, be like, oh my

God. 

Andy Gott: Right. And then I was watching the YouTube video and I was kind of like looking around the room of which there is no one else here. I'm by [00:16:00] myself and I'm like saying to the walls, are you hearing what I'm hearing? Are you sure this is just about a man that you're into? I'll admit that my connection to this band is, uh, one of my favorite, food TikTok ERs that I discovered through the pandemic is like the blonde lady from the band. 

Jeffrey: Oh yeah, 

I don't know their names to be completely honest.

Andy Gott: I don't even, even though I'm obsessed with her cooking videos, but seeing her face, I was like, oh, that's the lady who makes all the cakes singing about a girl.

Jeffrey: is so funny.

Andy Gott: the album you picked, what is your story with this album? What is the connection here? 

Jeffrey: The album is Nancy Wilson's with My Lover Beside Me, and it's got Barry Manilow on the Keys. Also, 

I think that it is just a piece of art from start to finish.

Andy Gott: [00:17:00] Where and when did you first hear it?

Jeffrey: I remember the exact moment. , it involves a podcast. So back when I started podcasting back in the wee days of the dinosaurs I've been doing this for like 10 years and there was very, very, very few queer podcasts and RuPaul and Michelle Visa had one called,

what's the 

t. 

Andy Gott: I love it. I love it.

Jeffrey: Right. And I, so I used to listen to all the queer podcasts cuz I was like one of four of them.

But also I was listening to see like what people were doing and not doing, like what worked, what I could steal. And they had don't quote me on this, but I think it was Billy Eichner and they were talking about the greatest albums ever and the two of them are bonding over this album with my lover beside me.

And RuPaul used some phrase like that's a like deserted island record where if I'm stuck on an island, I can only pick like five albums. I'm a hundred percent bringing Nancy Wilson. And I was like, that's quite [00:18:00] the fucking endorsement. Let me look it up. , right? And so I just fell in love with like the soaring vocals, the, you know, listen, as gay people, let's just be right, honest, right?

Sometimes some of our favorite pop stars, the songs are the shit and the vocals are good enough. Let's not make fun of Canadian pop stars. Okay. But some of my favorite people, I'm like, the vocals are fine. The songs are just catchy. Nancy Wilson is a singer. Capital S, the songs are amazing. The scoring, it's just, it all hits everything I need it to. And what I like most about this too is like I can play it for anybody in Any age range, any group ever, and they just say, what is this? What is this? And it's so

good. 

Andy Gott: Absolutely. I love that there's a RuPaul connection because I've discovered a fair amount of music over the years through like RuPaul used to do. He probably still does them, but these amazingly [00:19:00] curated Spotify playlists on his. Personal Spotify profile. 

Yeah, amazing taste and kind of that balance between the obscure and the mainstream, which I'd say this album fits neatly into. So Nancy Wilson was this huge, huge singer in the sixties and seventies, but this album to me, I dunno if it's just because I'm listening from Australia, but it wasn't available on streaming services.

Jeffrey: Oh, they took it down. In the pandemic. I lost my fucking mind then I said, okay. No, no, no, no. So I bought it on Amazon for $11.

Andy Gott: Was that the thing that pushed you over the edge in the pandemic? This album being taken off? Streaming services. 

Jeffrey: no, I broke my foot and

had to have surgery. Uh, so that 

pushed 

me on the 

edge. I was on opioids, baby. I entered the crisis. It was a whole good, odd time. that's, 

but we don't have three hours to share that story. 

Andy Gott: We don't. That's for the sequel. We'll do that. 

Jeffrey: I broke it on stage at a gay bar with a drag queen. I was shirtless. It's fine. Well, we don't have time for that story.

Okay. 

Andy

Andy Gott: But it is queer. That is queer. So thank you for Anyway, um, so [00:20:00] yeah, the album couldn't find it streaming, so I tried to purchase, you got it for $11. I think it was like $45 in Australia. Anyway, found it on YouTube. So I've listened to it on YouTube. But the album is, as you said, it is glamor. It sounds like, it looks, so the music sounds like the artwork, which is.

The dress, the hair, the jewels, it's giving me like valic gloves up to the elbow. It's giving like a flick of the wrist. Um, The wrist is possibly wearing a pearl bracelet.

Jeffrey: It's giving me, like a man takes me to see her on a date and we have a cocktail in my hand and I can't focus or say anything to this man or like make conversation because I'm just like staring gobsmacked at what's happening on stage. That's my fantasy version, 

and

we do sleep together, 

by the way. 

Yes.

Andy Gott: You'll may be wearing a bit of a, one of those like white [00:21:00] silk scarfs around your tuxedo. Anyway, this album was amazing and I think huge shoutout to Barry Manilow gay icon straight from the Continental Baths who wrote the album with Johnny Mercer. Wild.

Jeffrey: Just everyone's working at like, the height of their game. Like uh, I can't say negative 

thing about it 

Andy Gott: it did send me into a bit of a spiral online researching why and when Barry Manilow and Bette Midler exactly fell out. Um, My sources tell me they haven't spoken since 2016, so I'd love an update there.

Jeffrey: You know, I should have told you earlier that I um, refuse to talk about Barry Mannel publicly because um, he refuses to do my show. I've reached out so many times and they're like, we're not doing this. 

Stop it. Stop it. 

Andy Gott: Oh, I'm so sorry. I can't leave this in. I've gotta edit that out clearly. 

Jeffrey: No, that's on the record. That's on the record that Jeffrey Masters is pissed at Barry Manilow. Please let the record show.

Andy Gott: [00:22:00] It's on the record and yeah. So thank you for sharing. It's. Definitely I can see me listening to this when I'm making dinner, when I'm at, you know, going to see a performance with an older man. As we said, really, really beautiful album. I think my standup was something tells me I'm falling in love. There's a bit of a sexy saxophone moment.

Jeffrey: Love is where you find it.

Andy Gott: Mm. 

Jeffrey: I mean, I'm reading these track names and I'm like, a little bit getting steamy. Okay. Yeah, they're, I mean, listen, my favorite tracks are one through 13.

Andy Gott: Great. Jeffrey, which artist did you pick for tracks of our queers and why? 

Jeffrey: I felt necessary to pick just the greatest band of all.

Andy Gott: the Spice Girls 

Jeffrey: No. Well close. They're . The spice girls are jealous. the Indigo 

Girls. 

I am obsessed with them, and I became obsessed with them before I knew that they were like the lesbian Icon Band of the world. actually saw them in concert last [00:23:00] weekend and uh, no, no, That's not true. Not like I saw 'em in concert last year and I'm, I'm just laughing because I actually wore the exact flannel that I'm wearing now to talk to you , but I was like, oh my God, which of my flannel should I wear to see the Indigo girls? I love them. Something about. Their chemistry and like, I mean like, like the sonic chemistry of their voices working together.

Sometimes Amy takes a lead and Emily just backs her up. Sometimes Emily takes a lead. Sometimes they sing it both together. There's like a mutual respect, whatever the song is asking for, like they give it. Oh my God. And I was actually thinking about them when we were talking about Girl Crush because. And one of my favorite songs, and it's deeply depressing, but it's Ghost the song Ghost.

There's this lyric kind of similar to Girl Crush where she, she sings, I think it says Emily I wake the things I dreamed about, you make me blush. 

Andy Gott: [00:24:00] Hmm. 

Jeffrey: And I'm like, oh, I love those like sexy lyrics that just like sing like straightly, you know, just but the fact that they've been making music for so long and they're.

Mountain of songs that 

keep discovering 

Andy Gott: Yeah,, 

absolutely. I think when you the, uh, the level of worship in their fan base, it's not hard to understand when you look at the quality of their output, their dedication in turn to their fans, like you mentioned, their decades spanning relationship, that that very special kind of sisterhood that they share, where they work innately and completely in sync with each other.

But they also, they seem very comfortable with going off and doing their solo projects and then coming back together and acknowledging. They have their own things, but um, maybe often the sum is greater than the parts, and 

that's not a bad thing either. 

Jeffrey: Totally. I'm glad you brought up the activism too, because they have, I think now it's almost like [00:25:00] seen as a requirement that like our favorite musicians speak up for activism. Right. Um, Taylor Swift in America was silent during the 2020 election. I could be beginning 2020, Nope. 2016 election. Trump, um, and Hillary Clinton.

Because she did not publicly comment on the election. She was dragged by the liberals and the conservatives just assumed that she loved Trump. And that's, that's a woman aspect of that too. But we demand people to talk about politics where like, I think when the in girls are starting, their first album was 89, so again, in the nineties when they were making like statements about politics, I was.

Girls, what are you doing? You don't, don't have to comment on this, but they talked about it. They never shut up and they put it in their music. More importantly, they, they protest songs galore for like every issue. They've just only ever done what they wanted to do, you know, and like the art 

shows it.

Andy Gott: The art does show it. Correct. And I think there's definitely symmetry here. With your track selection, girl Crush and Indigo girls on one hand are not remotely [00:26:00] similar, but, um, there are elements of, country and folk in what Indigo Girls do.

And it's fascinating to me that on one hand we have this proudly, fiercely, Queer outfit who have been singing about their sexuality for decades. And then on the other hand, there's a track, which came out in 2014 about having a girl crush, which as you said was banned from radio. And they can exist together, but they're still miles apart from me.

Jeffrey: And I mean, it's so funny to say that too because like Country Radio is the name of a song from the Indo Girls last album about like growing up gay in, in the South, Um, and I think the lyrics, like I'm just a gay kid in a small town who loves country radio. 

Andy Gott: You interviewed Amy Ray from the band. I remember listening to that episode, and I also remember you slightly [00:27:00] shedding your usual calm energy. What was that like to interview Amy Ray?

Jeffrey: It was just, I. Like, I don't know how to describe it. I, this is somebody I've listened to all my life and then I have like questions and I, it's, it's just a bizarre experience to be able to talk to one of your favorite singers and songwriters and about your favorite songs, you know, and about like the intimate moments of lives.

Um, and then like the, a Frank, frankly, I, after like 300 interviews, sometimes you meet somebody and they're perfectly nice and they're perfectly fine. A a as they should be, you know? But frankly to like meet Amy Ray and just have a good time with her to like see that we connect. I was like, oh, this is an added bonus.

I would've been happy if I got to talk to her and talk about my favorite band. But the fact that we like enjoyed, I'll speak for her. We enjoyed each other's company. It's like really cool moment for me. Yeah. Um, Especially in that introduction, I, I really don't gush about people.

I don't have like the hero [00:28:00] worship gene. I never had like, the posters of x, Y, z celebrity my walls. Um, But no, that introduction, I allowed myself to gush a bit more than, uh, we usually do on the show. And, like that's

okay. I think 

Andy Gott: I think it's more than, okay. I think as a listener, That's something that listeners really appreciate. 

Jeffrey: Yeah. Thank you. 

Andy Gott: What are your top Indigo girls go-tos?

Jeffrey: Um, So Ghost, I Love Ghost is a sad song. . There's something I love about, um, like singing along to a song with a lyric is, there's not enough room in this world for my pain. 

Andy Gott: Mm. 

Jeffrey: I'm not like the most like, overly wrought emotional person, let's say, so I kind of like love when the music goes, like all the way Um, There's a lesser loved song that's not No, no, not lesser Loved, it's just not usually on the biggest lists. But on Swamp Ophelia, which is a perfect album, um, language or the kiss is just like a the singer, she's like standing outside. [00:29:00] Family's house, I think maybe like, like the girlfriend she's fighting with, and it's like the table's set for six, but only five are there.

And so I, I love a story. One of the through lines with every singer person we've talked about today, including Al Lambert is like the, storytelling, but also like what it's required in storytelling, in my opinion is, and this is the correct opinion, just kidding. But what's required in storytelling is like good diction.

Like your listeners need to be able to understand the lyrics. I don't know if I have a bad ear or just my brain prefers other things, but one of the things I really relate to in country music, is that the addiction's perfect. You can understand every word. Some popular music, I mean, singers I love like Rihanna sometimes I'm just kind of like, I can't understand one lyric in this, but I am living, I am dancing my butt off.

But the Indo Girls, I can hear the lyrics. [00:30:00] Hammer and a nail. You know, deconstruction is a beautiful song, the Deconstruction of love. And of course, 

like Galileo, 

Andy Gott: Yeah, of course.

I love that and I love that. I love the shout out to diction. You know, shout out to diction. Uh, would love, I know it's part of her charm, but would love Billy Eilish to just take a couple of diction classes and see where we land. Now you mentioned Barry Manilow as someone who you've been chasing and it's just not happening yet.

Are there, and you have interviewed many musicians on lgbtq q and a. Uh, Are there any musicians who you would still yet love to interview for the podcast?

Jeffrey: you know, I'd like to talk to Emily, the other counterpart of the Indo Girls. Um, Emily has written some of my favorite Indigo girls songs and I was a little bit nervous to book her immediately, just since we talked so much about the Indigo girls history with Amy Ray.

I don't wanna then have the exact same conversation with her, you know, co-signer. But frankly I knocked off a [00:31:00] massive one for me, which is Melissa Etheridge. She was like, yeah, she was high on my list for a while. I'm really focused on my elders renell. 

I, I don't know that there's an official definition of elders, but because we don't have so many, I've been using the anything over 60, I've kind of like lumped it there. I don't know if that's accurate. I don't know if I wanna be called it Elder 60, but anybody older, anyone older than me is 60.

I, I act like I'm 50

Andy Gott: Not to end on a glum note, because I think it's a very positive thing, but that's a really special thing to share in terms of we as queer people in our kind of vague age bracket don't have a lot of queer elders who otherwise should be here. And that's a theme that personally speaks to me and a lot of music that I relate to, or film or culture, just this notion of.

Being queer means having to often seek out your cultural lineage yourself because it's not handed to you on a plate. That certainly got a lot [00:32:00] easier with the advent of the internet and smartphones, but typically we have to go and find our cultural connections in history. But specifically now, there's vast swathes of.

Elders who otherwise would be here, if not for certain events in the seventies and eighties. So I think, um, definitely podcasts like lgbtq q and a, but also making gay history with Eric Marcus. These podcasts are very important in terms of capturing the storytelling of queer elders

and, um, making sure that they're easily accessible.

Jeffrey: Yeah. I love Eric.

He's been like a, a amazing friend, mentor, all above. But I, I think just to echo what you said, Um, of queer elders are being captured. They are out there, but I think people just don't look for them. You know, I hear a lot because I, a lot of my last year was focused on recording elder stories and a lot of people have said like, thank you.

Like, no one's doing that. And I always had to correct people that many, many people are doing it, we just don't look for it. Or maybe [00:33:00] they're not easily accessible. 

Andy Gott: Speaking of, , just to wrap up, is there a queer charity initiative or social media account you'd like to give a shout out to?

Jeffrey: You know, I'm a huge fan. I don't know if I'd consider her an elder. I don't know if she's quite there yet, but I'm a huge fan of Bambi Salcedo in California. Um, She runs the Trans Latina Coalition here, and I think that she is an amazing example of somebody who. Is changing the lives of many, many, many people in our community, but we don't maybe know her name because she is doing the actual work on the ground and not putting that energy towards like building a social media following.

Um, , she's an immigrant woman. She's an older generation. Her focus is not Instagram and Twitter. And so unfortunately, Queer organizations, I'll be shady allow me to. Um, when queer organizations make these lists, it ends up actually being people who, who grow their social media following and who maybe have time to do [00:34:00] that.

But then the people who are like on the ground, on the street, um, don't. Are focused on other things. And so we don't know their names as much. And so Bambi's one of those people. That's not to be shady towards all activists, cuz some people do both. Absolutely. But, um, the, the news media, queer media tends to appreciate, uplift those with the biggest followings, and that's not always a person who's doing the biggest impact.

Andy Gott: Correct. Uh, 

Jeffrey: was that on a scale of one to 10? 

Andy Gott: it really wasn't, I, I was just hearing accuracy, but what I'm also hearing is someone needs to help Bambi out and just do the Instagram for her. I don't know, Maybe it's you. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's a listener. This was wonderful. Jeffrey Masters. You are queer, I hope, and thank you very much for your tracks.

Jeffrey: Thank you for including me. This was a blast. 

Andy Gott (2): You can find LGBTQ&A wherever you are listening to this podcast right now. And in the unlikely event that you're not already subscribed, please do. You can also find Jeffrey's personal [00:35:00] Instagram at @jeffmasters1 Tracks of Our Queers is presented and produced by me. Andy got entirely on unceded, Gadigal, and Ngarigo aboriginal land.

You can email me your thoughts, recommendations, or gay ramblings to tracksofourqueers@gmail.com. See you next time.