#flamy-grant — Public Fediverse posts

Flamy Grant – CHURCH (2024, US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1191 on The List, submitted by @switch.

I had planned on finishing up a different spotlight last Tuesday, but then Dolly Parton left us and I got distracted listening to her music and reading all the wonderful stories about her, including how she even as a devout Christian had long supported the LGBTQ+ community. I then briefly thought that I should next do a spotlight on the one Dolly album we have on The List, Jolene, but then I immediately realized I’d like some Fedi help on that one and so decided to schedule it for later.[1] And then we learned Tim Curry left us on the same day, and I got distracted listening to his music and reading all the wonderful stories on Fedi about everyone’s first/favourite Rocky Horror Picture Show screening and how it created a space for so many to discover and be themselves, something I must admit I’m jealous of, having missed that whole experience due to my religious upbringing in “purity culture”-crazed evangelicalism…

And so, after flying the 1001OA flag at half-mast for a few days, I felt I wanted a different album to spotlight than the one I previously was working on, which just didn’t fit the vibe. So, I scanned The List, ‘let’s see…….Flamy Grant – YES.’

For those unfamiliar with CCM (contemporary Christian music) or the best Christmas album that exists, the name “Flamy Grant” is a reference to Amy Grant, a heart-on-her-sleeve singer-songwriter and certified hottie with a dusky voice who was (and still is) a mix of Deanna Troi and a young Carole King. Grant is still active but was exceptionally huge in the CCM scene in the 80s to about mid-/late-90s…until she was effectively cancelled by the church for (a) being too hot, (b) releasing straight-up pop love songs that could no longer be co-opted for a Christian worship service (not even unironically), (c) having on-camera chemistry with men who were not her husband in duets/music videos, and (d) – the last ridiculous, hypocritical, sexist, narrow-minded straw – getting out of a marriage that probably never should’ve been. Christian radio blacklisted her, Christian music/bookstores stopped carrying her, her earlier songs disappeared from worship services…every pastor and parent had an opinion on how scandalous Amy Grant was. And while the CCM industry never fully dropped her (one guess why, and it starts with a $) – and Grant never turned tail or ran – the fact that the entire church essentially did her dirty is something that will never be forgotten, never be forgiven. And by “some”, I speak for myself; Amy Grant was my very first music love and the whole situation rubbed me the wrong way even though I was just a kid. Looking back, it probably started my journey of leaving the church and becoming one of the many who call ourselves “exvangelicals“. And, in reading up on what Grant’s been up to since I left that world, it seems they’ve somewhat recently tried to cancel her yet again for being supportive of the LBGTQ+ community and advocating for a Christianity that is accepting of all. So, that tracks why she clicked for me and the church that has cancelled her not once but twice did not. But I digress.

Who is Flamy Grant then? Well, “God’s favorite drag queen”, of course! Having grown up in an evangelical church in the Appalachia and with all that that oppressive environment entails for a queer kid, at a young age Flamy aka Matthew Blake Lovegood latched onto Amy Grant’s music while going through a rocky time that heartbreakingly involved self-enrolling in a so-called “conversion therapy” program. They fortunately left that program, embraced their queerness, and found a better church. And then, in a pandemic livestream for exvangelicals, they unveiled their drag persona, the name chosen to honour the musician who had helped them survive.

Flamy has since used that persona to pen beautifully honest, therapeutic, “shame-slaying” Americana songs that address “queerness, faith, and overcoming the spiritual trauma so often endured by LGBTQ+ people and others who grow up in conservative religious spaces”. Self-releasing her debut Bible Belt Baby in the fall of 2022 – “the world’s first contemporary Christian music record by a drag performer” – the following summer Flamy saw her album reach number 1 on the iTunes Christian music charts in part thanks to some MAGAt saying something about a collab between a well-known CCM artist and Flamy that was meant to be disparaging but spectacularly backfired. Amen.

While some of us exvangelicals have deconstructed our religious upbringings to the point where we’ve effectively walked away from Christianity completely, those who don’t want to make that choice more often than not face the uphill battle of finding a congregation or space where they can be accepted by others who share their theological beliefs. Flamy is one of those brave souls in CCM who are attempting to nudge the genre away from being claimed as a conservative, rightwing-only club, to at least provide a haven in music for other believers in the LGBTQ+ community, like Flamy found in Amy Grant’s music. Showing a different way is possible, just like Amy Grant, just like Dolly. And I wholeheartedly respect that. Flamy might even get me to darken the door of a church again if I’m ever in the neighourhood for a “Dolly Church” Pride service like the annual one she’s been involved in. Maybe. In the meantime, I’m very happy to listen to CHURCH, Flamy’s second album. I hope you enjoy.

“The moment that I looked at you
I recognized the killing truth
You really think there’s no way out
But if you let me, I can help you now
Through all these shattered emotions
There’s a lesson to learn
So come on let me hold you closer
Love can soothe what love has burned…

You’ve got to remember
You’re not alone in this world
Always remember
You’re not alone in this world”

– Amy Grant, “You’re Not Alone” from Heart in Motion (1991)

• Bandcamp: Flamy Grant – CHURCH (deluxe ed.)
• Discogs: Flamy Grant – CHURCH

1. If you’re interested in taking part, the plan is to have our Dolly Parton/Jolene tribute post published September 25, 2027; see this post for details. ↩︎