Steve Grand weighs in on the rebranding of Josey Greenwell into country singer Nate Green
I have not written much about the metamorphosis of a once out-and-proud gay country musician named Josey Greenwell who did a sexy DNA spread and appeared on the cover of the 2012 Spartacus Gay Guide.
Well, he faded from sight in 2013 then more than a year later re-emerged with a new name, Nate Green, and is being marketed for straight audiences.
Steve Grand, the openly gay singer whose debut album was released this week, weighed in on Josey Greenwell/Nate Green in an interview with The Daily Beast:
“I don’t really know much about him. I just know he did a DNA photo shoot and he seemed to be out and proud and now he seems not to be embracing that side of him in the same way. Let me think what I want to say about this… It saddens me because I feel his decision to not be out and open in what appears to be actually in some ways going back into the closet professionally, I see it as a reflection on the sad state where people feel like they can’t be out. And I feel bad for him, that he for whatever reason doesn’t feel he can’t be welcomed as an artist and he’s branding himself as a country artist but he doesn’t feel like that he can make that part of his work. I think I wanted to be out because I felt it sets a good example. We need as many people out as possible. I felt comfortable doing that and I’m all about that for myself and I encourage other people to do the same. But I don’t know his story, what his journey’s been like, so I don’t want to make any judgement other than it’s a reflection of the world that he believes in and it’s a sad reflection for me.”
Comments
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Sam says:
Steve Grand is an amazing artist/musician. Now I have greater respect for him with setting an example of being a courageous and authentic person in the music industry. I hope Josie/Nate will eventually reconsider his knee-jerk professional/personal decision.