With musicians like Diplo and Post Malone donning Western clothing, the unlikely rise of Lil Nas X and the masked mystery man Orville Peck, the resurgence of cowboy culture in music is hard to ignore.
Who is Orville Peck, you ask? The rising country star is making waves with his debut record, Pony, which was released by Sub Pop earlier this year.
Pony explores Peck's life through the lens of a lonesome cowboy moseying on his way, with subjects ranging from love and loss to loneliness. In its 12 tracks, Peck sings about relatable and timeless desires through his own unique perspective.
The singer identifies as queer, something he embraces in both his music and his sense of style. He says he grew up idolizing the theatrical performance flair of artists like David Bowie and Oasis, as well as old rodeo performers.
"I was always enamored with cowboys as a kid," he said.
"You’d have all of these tough cowboy performers singing about all of this stuff and they’d be wearing rhinestoned pink suits and stuff. I found the contrast of that kind of cool. I found it kind of innately edgy."
Peck's fashion sense, like Lil Nas X's, toes the line between gay culture and traditional cowboy masculinity. He wears fringe, leather, sequins, patches, flashy belts and has about 20 iterations of a leather, BDSM identity-concealing mask that have become his staple.
He keeps his real identity under wraps, but says he’s in no way trying to hide behind his leather masks. “It’s actually quite the opposite,” he told Billboard.
“The mask and all of that has allowed me to be a lot more exposed.”
The masked crooner hasn't always been so secretive– in fact, he used to play in a bunch of punk bands!
Growing up, Peck says he was a bit of an outcast, and he found his footing in the punk community where he was able to take out a lot of aggression. (Side note: people have speculated about his real identity, claiming he's a drummer from a Vancouver punk band, but we're respecting Peck's wishes to remain anonymous!)
"Punk was the doorway that gave me the confidence many years later to essentially feel very naked," he said in an interview.
He's always loved country, though, and says what he loves about the genre is "the performance, the storytelling, the flamboyance, the drama..." He added:
"...the idea of closed people and archetypes of manly men singing about their sorrows—those things are very cool and interesting."
Characterized by his Roy Orbison-like baritone, Peck is no stranger to classic country roots. He even channels elements like a drawl, some yee-haws a few banjos into his songs, but also incorporates some '80s new-wave production.
He grapples with being an outsider in a "stark, hollow town" in "Dead of Night" and taps into some old-school country sounds on songs like "Kansas (Remember Me Now)" and "Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)."
We don't need to know the identity of the man behind the mask to agree that his music slaps, but the allure is tempting.
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Peck is already on the road celebrating Pony, touring with Calexico, Iron and Wine and Deerhunter on select dates!
He'll be riding through cities like Nashville, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Philadelphia before his North American run ends October 18 in Toronto. He then heads overseas for some U.K. and European dates before coming back to North America in December!
Check out his full itinerary below and head to his website for more info.
Orville Peck North American Tour dates:
August 22-Boise, ID-Knitting Factory*
August 23-Portland, OR-Keller Auditorium*
August 24-Port Townsend, WA-Thing
August 26-Victoria, BC-Capital Ballroom
August 27-Vancouver, BC-Commodore Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
September 6-Raleigh, NC-Hopscotch Music Festival
September 12-Ottawa, ON-CityFolk Festival
September 14-Nashville, TN-Americana Fest
September 18-Montreal, QC-La Sala Rossa (SOLD OUT)
September 19-Somerville, MA-ONCE Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
September 20-Brooklyn, NY-Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)
September 21-Washington, DC-Union Stage (SOLD OUT)
September 24-Atlanta, GA-Purgtatory Room at the Masquerade (SOLD OUT)
September 25-Ybor City, FL-Crowbar
September 27-Marfa, TX-Trans-Pecos Festival of Music + Love
September 28-New Orleans, LA-Gasa Gasa (SOLD OUT)
September 30-Houston, TX-White Oak Music Hall
October 1-Dallas, TX-Southside Music Hall
October 3-Kansas City, MO-The Record Bar (SOLD OUT)
October 4-St. Louis, MO-Blueberry Hill (SOLD OUT)
October 5-Chicago, IL-Lincoln Hall (SOLD OUT)
October 6-Grand Rapids, MI-The Pyramid Scheme (SOLD OUT)
October 8-Columbus, OH-Ace of Cups (SOLD OUT)
October 9-Cleveland, OH-Grog Shop (SOLD OUT)
October 10-Philadelphia, PA-The Foundry (SOLD OUT)
October 12-Austin, TX-Austin City Limits Festival
October 15-Brooklyn, NY-Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)
October 18-Toronto, ON-Lee's Palace (SOLD OUT)
December 5-Toronto, ON-Danforth Music Hall
European/U.K. dates:
October 22-Dublin, IE-The Grand Social
October 23-Glasgow, UK-Mono
October 24-Leeds, UK-Brudenell Social Club
October 26-Amsterdam, NL-London Calling
October 27-Brighton, UK-Green Door Store
October 28-London, UK-Scala
October 30-Manchester, UK-YES (Pink Room)
October 31-Antwerp, BE-Filter Festival
November 1-Paris, FR-Pitchfork Paris
November 4-Copenhagen, DK-Loppen
November 6-Reykjavik, IS-Iceland Airwaves
November 8-Hamburg, DE-Nochtwache
November 9-Berlin, DE-Badehaus
November 10-Munich, DE-Folks! Club
November 12-Zurich, CH-Rote Fabrik
November 13-Rivoli, IT-Circolo della Musica
November 14-Bologna, IT-TPO†
November 19-Madrid, ES-Wurlitzer
November 20-Barcelona, ES-Sidecar
November 22-Milan, IT-Linecheck Festival
* with Calexico and Iron & Wine
† with Deerhunter
