"I think Nashville is too afraid to see that" — Orville Peck says country music fans are not given enough credit for how open-minded they are

Country musician Orville Peck, in an interview piece published by Billboard Canada on August 7, talked about how open-minded country music fans have been compared to the Nashville industry. The 36-year-old singer added that his work has gained recognition from the country people. However, the same has been quite slow with the Nashville industry.

"So I think country fans are not given enough credit for how open-minded they are. I think Nashville is too afraid to see that. I think they're sort of starting to see it", said the Dead of Night singer.

Orville Peck is openly gay. He said that even after working on a song with the famous country singer Willie Nelson, people commented that his work did not relate to country music. As a result, this made it difficult for him since Nashville has been too scared to see the open-mindedness of the country music fans.

His fan following has been ginormous over the years and he considered them ‘true blue country people’. Orville Peck stated that these fans do not connect to the fact that he is queer or to the kind of artistry he practices but to the foremost idea that he makes country music. While pointing out that people have had a problem with ‘something’ beyond his music, the singer said,

“It's the same problem that people might have with Beyoncé making a country album, because a lot of people believe that country should be one thing and we all know what that one thing is.”

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About Orville Peck’s latest album, Stampede

Orville Peck released his latest album, Stampede, on August 2, 2024. It has a collection of duets with Willie Nelson, Beck, Elton John, Noah Cyrus, and others.

Stampede includes covers of queer country songs like Rhinestone Cowboy, Papa Was a Rodeo, and Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other. These songs were recorded with gay country singers like Fancy Hagood, TJ Osborne, and Waylon Payne.

He had canceled his last summer tour so that he could look after his physical and mental health. However, his return comes with this newly released album. While talking to Billboard Canada about his return almost after a year, the singer added,

"[That was] the longest I've been away from touring my whole life and I've been touring almost 20 years. I was able to, for the first time really ever, take actual time for myself to figure out the parts of me that are not anything to do [with] making music and my career and show business – all of the stuff that I'd sort of just put on the back burner my whole life."

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Orville Peck believed that a country musician loves their country and wants to add their perspective to the same.