Country music drag queens get ready for Palm Springs pride
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - A drag a cappella group called She Haw puts a gay twist on classic country songs. Singing in four part harmony, S’fonda Hicks, Chantilly DeMoisier, Etta Mame and Crystal Chandelier are hoping to bring a country flare to Palm Springs pride this year. The group walked in the pride parade 20 years ago.
The group name was inspired by the comedy variety show, "Hee Haw," which ran from 1969 to 1993.
Members of the group say country is in their DNA, but growing up in the south as gay men came with its challenges.
"Most of my family really does believe, including my mother, that I might be possessed of a demon. But it's crazy because here we are spreading love. That's what pride is all about," says DeMoisier.
The country music genre has seen more diversity in recent years. After Beyoncé won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album of the Year, making her the first Black woman to do so, the Recording Academy announced it would spilt the category into two: Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album.
"I think it should just be all together. It should be one big category, because country comes from the heartland. Country comes from every one of us," says DeMoisier.
But Mame thinks it may be a positive step for the genre, "I think that expanding this into contemporary country music includes other people and gives people the ability to come into country music and express themselves to a brand new market."
