From the first notes of the lead-off track to Secret Emchy Society’s new album, Gold
Country / Country Gold, you realize that you’re not in Kansas anymore. It’s a gothy,
spaghetti western version of “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond Of Each Other,”
written by Latin country musician Ned Sublette but popularized by Willie Nelson. It’s also
widely recognized as the first LGBT-themed mainstream country song by a major artist. Par
for the course if you know Cindy Emch’s previous work. As the First Lady of Queer Country,
she is known for her distinct voice and ability to blend Americana, California Country,
Hellbilly, Goth, and Honky Tonk, spinning radically distinctive tales from her singular
perspective.

Emchy’s not only a highly regarded musician in the Bay Area—nominated three times for
Best Local LGBT Band by Bay Area Reporter—but she’s also a seasoned student of the
history of LGBTQA musicians dipping their toes in genres that have always been “off-limits”
for non-hetero participants. She was the founding editor of Country Queer and still hosts
Gimme Country’s popular Emchy’s Outlaw Americana show. She’s also worked with the
original queer country cowboy Lavender Country, the award-winning singer-songwriter
Amythyst Kiah (from the all-women-of-color supergroup Our Native Daughters), out
transwoman folk-punker Shawna Virago, and Haitian-born / UK based Alt-Americana
Country-Noire singer DeLila Black when Emchy produced the 2021 National Queer Arts
Festival Showcase. Her previous albums have landed her on the road with some of the
most popular acts in the genre: Mercy Bell, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and Karen & The
Sorrows, led by the originator of the Gay Ole Opry herself, Karen Pittleman. Needless to
say, Cindy Emch has become well-known to anyone paying attention to the increasing
popularity of turning old tropes on their ear by melding classic twang with a punk ethos.