My Gay Banjo, Julia Read, Nath Ann Carrera

My Gay Banjo is Owen Taylor and Julia Steele Allen on guitar, banjo, uke and vocals. Singing homespun gay-themed duets and occasional queered-up mash-ups, My Gay Banjo plays songs for you and your kind.

SWEET SWEET WORDS

"Queer country duo My Gay Banjo is making waves in the country music scene." -Huffington Post

"I first saw Julia and Owen play together as My Gay Banjo years ago in a Brooklyn living room... I still remember that evening quite fondly, for these two totally captured my heart." -Feministing.com

"My Gay Banjo... gives traditional country tracks a run for their money...and knows how to embrace pink eyeshadow and mustaches. Win." -After Ellen

"This super-talented combo completely wowed us (and the packed crowd) with their gorgeous melodies and beautiful original songs. We can bet that you'll be hearing more about this duo." -Next Magazine

"Acoustic duo. Dual male/female vocals. Pop mash-up covers. A motherfucking banjo." -fyeahqueermusic.

"For any country queers out there who find yourselves stuck in a city and aching for the quiet star-filled nights back home, My Gay Banjo's new album, “Country Boys In the City,” is the soundtrack you’ve been waiting for. And for those lucky country queers who have escaped the city and run back home, this upbeat album will remind you of your younger years spent gallivanting around on bikes and looking up past the city skyline at the moon. But this isn’t just an album for queer listeners or even for country folk; there are universal truths in these songs. There are soft love songs, and tales of heartbreak, songs of struggle and queer courage in the face of all that’s against us." -Country Queers

Find out more about Julia's other projects here: juliasteeleallen.com.

"Saturday night marked my first time seeing Read play, but there was something about her that struck me as deeply familiar. Within the opening notes on her violin I quickly scrawled down three words in my notebook: female Sam Amidon.
Their music is not polished and poppy, but raw. Read has the beefed up voice of a 1940s Disney heroine – one who clearly doesn’t need rescuing.

But the similarities between the two young musicians extend further than the music itself. Both have this amazing earnest, little kid purity about them. Staring straight ahead in her over-sized t-shirt and loose-fitting Dickies, Read has the kind of crazed, wide-eyed look you can’t help but mimic a little, like a baby in a social psychology experiment." - Sonic Smörgåsbord

"Fireworks" by Julia Read from Look Sessions on Vimeo.

Nath Ann Carrera: Described as a "heavenly" (New York Times), "gender-defiant" (Time Out New York), "glitter saint" (Village Voice), Nath Ann Carrera has had solo shows at La MaMa ("Death To The Patriarchal Rape Heads"), Joe's Pub, Wild Project, and the Afterglow Festival ("I Don't Want To Throw Rice, I Want To Throw Rocks: The Early Southern Gothicism Of Dolly Parton"), sings as WITCH CAMP with Amber Martin, performs with Justin Vivian Bond, opened for Martha Wainwright at City Winery, and has sung at P.S. 122, The Kitchen, Abrons Arts Center, Le Poisson Rouge, and MoMA PS1.