Fancy Hagood’s Independent Spirit

The Queer Country Icon on Love, Chosen Family, and the Fight for Visibility

Credit: Natalie Osborne

I’m catching up with queer country icon Fancy Hagood, who just dropped five new songs on the expanded edition of his sophomore album, titled American Spirit: The Last Drag. In this Q&A, Fancy tells me about how these new tracks trace his journey as he moves into gratitude for a former relationship, considers his relationship with second-hand smoke in Nashville dives, and honors queer elders in his life, like his late friend, Leslie Jordan.

(Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Full, unedited interview is available for subscribers below.)

Hunter Kelly: Fancy! So good to catch up with you! Thanks for chatting!

Fancy Hagood: Thanks for having me! It’s so good to see you.

HK: You too! Well, let’s get into your new release, American Spirit: The Last Drag. I love this entire theme, because you get into smoking, which seems so taboo now, with the title American Spirit, but that also speaks to a sense of resiliency. How did that all come about?

FH: I wrote the song, “American Spirit,” with Gina Venier and Summer Overstreet, who are both incredible artists in their own right. It was our first time writing, and it all stemmed from Gina’s idea with the lyric, “cigarette season,” which ended up in the song.

Ironically, I’m not a smoker. Everyone in my life is. All my friends would say they’re casual smokers. So, I'm around it a lot. I'm in smoky bars all the time.

HK: You get it second hand?

FH: Yeah, second hand over here, honey. I laugh like I’m a smoker. You would think I smoke a pack a day the way I laugh, but I'm not.

That lyric rang true to me — cigarette season — ‘cause it’s people who aren’t smokers, but then have that moment, that relapse of needing it when they’re stressed or going through a certain season of their life. I really like that. So, that became the song “American Spirit.”

Because of what was happening and is happening in our country, I really liked that title for my album. Not for the cigarette part of it, but talking about the actual human spirit. I live in the south. I’m a country artist. I’m queer. I’m all of these things. These days, it feels like there’s a pressure for those things to be mutually exclusive. You’re either one of the other, but I'm actually all of ‘em. I am queer. I'm country. I am proud to be an American. “American Spirit,” the song, is not necessarily political, but my existence in country music is. So, I thought it was a perfect title for my sophomore album. And The Last Drag is basically me putting a period at the end of the sentence from this chapter in this phase of my life.

HK: All of that was my roundabout way of making sure that you’re not smoking, because it’s just not healthy.

FH: Oh, you know what? I’m an asthmatic.

HK: Oh, honey! Yes. Do not smoke!

FH: I've always wanted to be a smoker. I think it looks so cool. All the hottest guys smoke. So, I have definitely tried my hand at it, and I always look like such a poser — just coughing my head off in front of everyone. That's not hot or cool. So, I just refrain.

HK: I will say it's been a long time since I kissed a smoker, and that's something I don't miss.

FH: I've kissed a smoker. Yeah. I don't think I care about it. I'm like, “Are you hot?” It depends on how hot you are whether or not I care if you have cigarette breath.

HK: Noted. So, how did these five songs on The Last Drag come together? Were they part of the original sessions for American Spirit or is this something that bubbled up after the fact?

FH: One song, “The Mountains” was a part of the original session. I wrote that with Abbey Cone and cut it with John Osborne, but it had a similar storyline as my song “Fly Away,” which is the last song on the original 11-track project. I wrote both songs to my 17-year-old self who moved to Nashville. That's just where I was at in my therapy— really spending a lot of time thinking about my younger self and honoring him and his bravery and the way he showed up for himself and believed in himself. And so much has happened in my career where some of that was kicked out of me. Coming back to make this sophomore album, which is unapologetically a country album — is something I always thought I couldn't do because of my queerness. And “Fly Away” really captures that story.

But I wanted to honor “The Mountains” as well, so we built this deluxe version of American Spirit around that song. I wrote two other new songs after the initial sessions — “High on You" and “Let It Rain” — that made it on this deluxe version.

I came out of a relationship last year, and it was an extremely difficult, trying time in my life. American Spirit is the album I needed to make to heal and come back to myself and really become okay again. “High on You” is just about finding that newness of catching feels again after such devastation. Then “Let it Rain” is definitely a song about my relationship and the teacher that it was, despite all the negative or hurtful things that happened. Whatever it was, I’m honoring the fact that relationship was a teacher to me. I'm more grateful for the experience than anything, because who I am exiting that relationship is not who I was walking into it. I have so much more information about myself now as a partner, as a lover, as a friend, than I did before. That's invaluable. I'm just very grateful for that. So, “Let It Rain” is actually a letter to my ex just saying, "Thank you.”

HK: Listening to these songs, I can tell you’ve done a lot of work moving through that experience. You've said there were a lot of tears shed in the studio, but this album and the new songs on The Last Drag are not an exercise in self-pity at all. So, with “High on You,” how did you capture the feel of that spark of new love in the music?

FH: The whole concept of “scheduled inspiration” with Nashville co-writes has always haunted me. That idea that you have to get there at 11AM and then have a song by 4pm really jars me. So, I spend a lot of time at home beforehand writing a verse here or a chorus there when I’m in a mood to write. So, I always have the artillery loaded when I walk into a co-write where I'm not just having to sit there and be like, “This is what I’m thinking right now.”

So, I had basically written the chorus of “High on You,” and it felt good. I hadn’t been writing a lot of love songs like that where you just feel good about it. I took it to Caroline Spence, (Caroline is one of my favorite artists. Her album, True North, is just one of the best bodies of work I've ever heard.) and I told her I really wanted it to have this really easy, chill, Tom Petty vibe. So, we ended up writing the rest of the song.

And in the studio with Jarrad K, that’s been one of my favorite experiences. When I listen to American Spirit, I can hear myself playing on every track. I’m sitting right next to Jarrad the whole time we’re producing. It just feels like this really great collaborative effort, and I think that’s been something that’s been missing in my work. American Spirit really does showcase what I do naturally as an artist, and Jarrad really nurtures that.

HK: So, that’s your acoustic guitar we’re hearing?

FH: Yeah, I’m playing the acoustic guitar my grandpa gave me when I was in second grade. It’s really special. It’s survived every move I’ve had to Los Angeles and back and survived the tornado in 2020 when I lost everything. All my other guitars were smashed to bits, and that one was spared.

HK: Wow.

FH: It was messed up a little bit, but my ex actually had it put together. It was made to where I could play it when I was writing. Then this past year, my guitar player made it where I can plug in and play it and record with it. So, it’s a really special, meaningful instrument. That’s what you’re hearing on the record.

HK: So, let’s talk about the Lucie Silvas of it all. I know she’s one of your good friends, and she’s got so many songs you could have recorded. Why was “Old Habits" the one you chose to include here?

FH: Let me be honest. I could make an entire Lucie Silvas cover album.

HK: Maybe you should!

FH: Don’t tempt me. I love Lucie Silvas. The amount of times me and [my manager] Natalie [Osborne] are driving in the car, and we're singing at the top of our lungs to a Lucie song. And then next thing you know, we're sobbing because we just love her so much. What a unique opportunity to be close to an artist that's one of your favorite artists, but she's also just one of the most special people in your life. Oh, I can't even talk about her without getting so emotional.

She is family to me, and her music has pulled me out of such dark places. I have had a very tumultuous journey through the music industry, and Lucie has too. And so, it's something we can always relate on. And she always talks me down from the ledge when I'm about to lose it.

I will never forget. I went to Colorado to Red Rocks when Lucie was opening for Chris Stapleton. I'm standing in the hallway backstage, and Lucie and Jarrad, K and another one of her players, Corey, were all in the hallway rehearsing acoustic before they went on. They were singing “My Old Habits,” and just the harmony and the way they were just like so tight and in it, it just was a moment that I had no part of musically or anything like that. But it made me fall in love with music again. It made me wanna make my album Southern Curiosity. It made me want to get back in the studio. It made me wanna pursue being an artist, and Lucie does that for me every time I hear her music. So I thought it would be really fun to honor her — not just for who she is in my life personally, but for the influence she has had in my art. Hopefully, I did it justice. Daniel Tashian produced Lucie's version, and he's such a wizard of song, and melody, and chords.

Also, coming off of a breakup, that song’s messaging isn't necessarily like super happy, but for some reason where the chord structures goes, it makes me happy. It's a breakup song that makes me happy.

HK: And then you have your cover of The Steeldrivers’ “Where Rainbows Never Die,” written and preformed by Chris Stapleton. It features Mindy Smith and Maia Sharp on vocals. I can’t help but think of your friend Leslie Jordan when I listen to you sing this one. How did you choose this particular cover?

FH: I was listening to Mindy Smith, who I’m obsessed with, and then Apple Music just started playing The Steeldrivers once Mindy’s record was finished. I remembered hearing “Where Rainbows Never Die” years ago, but for some reason upon this listen, I was just floored and so moved. I think it’s because of what’s going on in the culture right now. There’s a war on queer people. There’s a war on trans people, and that song does make me think of people like Leslie Jordan. Despite everything, he personified so much joy and so much happiness and brought people the gift of laughter.

I’ll never forget seeing Leslie on TV for the first time — my younger self seeing this flamboyant firecracker being himself and being celebrated. It just signaled to me that I could be whoever I wanted to be. To be able to have a relationship with Leslie when he was a personal hero of mine was such a treat.

“Where Rainbows Never Die” makes me think of about the joy queer people bring to this world, and I wanted to have a song on this album that honors that joy. I want to think of a world where there’s not a war happening on people’s identities and people’s joy. That’s part of our resistance is remaining joyful.

HK: You received the HRC Visibility Award recently, and your speech was just so incredible. What did that recognition do for you, as far as feeling renewed inspiration to speak up?

FH: That award meant so much to me because I know what it's like to feel invisible. For so much of my career, even at the height of my success, I was a mystery. I was made to feel like I who I am as a person is not enough. To have that honor from HRC, The Visibility Award, is just such a signal to me that who I am is not only enough, but it’s necessary. I want to inject that into that narrative or all queer people. Hunter, you and I met a long time ago in Nashville, and queer artists were not really a thing back then. Now you look around and there are so many amazing artists showing up and stepping into their greatness. It’s so amazing to see.

I hope that me winning that award is just a signal, not only to myself, but to all these other artists who are taking up space, that this is important, and it’s possible, and it’s happening.

It’s just a huge honor. I’ve seen a lot of my friends win that award, and it’s just a signal to me that all the work, the hard days, and all of the trails I’ve been through in this music industry are 1000% worth it, because I'm doing it now, and I’m doing it my way as an independent artist.

I’ll say it out loud. I think if I was a heterosexual male doing what I’m doing, every major label in Nashville would be beating down my door wanting to throw gasoline on this fire. But I think they’re all still so scared of what’s happening politically in our country that they can’t even see in front of them that this movement is happening.

Seemingly, my career’s taking off more than ever, and it’s really awesome to have that recognized by HRC, because it’s certainly not being recognized by Music Row. It’s really wild to me the amount of people that work at labels that want to come up to me and tell me how they love my album. They’ll say, “You’re such an important artist,” but yet there’s no movement made there.

I just want to be a beacon of light to other queer artists that we can do this ourselves. We can keep showing up, we can take up space, we can be our own business, and we can be successful.

The HRC honor was just out of my wildest dreams. I never saw that coming. When Natalie told me that was happening, I literally just fell apart, ‘cause most days are not easy. If you’re looking at my Instagram, it looks really glamorous. I live a fun life, that’s true. But most days it’s hard to stay in this fight of being a queer country artist. We’re having to think harder and work harder.

HK: Of course, I have opinions on Music Row and queer artists. In my years of hosting Proud Radio on Apple Music, there were several queer artists that actually started having some independent chart success. I'd let folks on Music Row know, especially the queer folks working on Music Row, and it was crickets. I know if those artists were straight, they’d at least have been some talk of development deals happening.

So, I appreciate you continuing to do this independently. I started this Substack on my own to continue telling these stories, because we can’t wait for major companies to tell us what we can or can’t do. Especially as queer people living in this cultural climate where folks tell us that DEI is dead and no one wants diversity anymore.

FH: Yeah, and I’m sitting here talking about levels not wanting to sign queer artists. That makes it sound like I want to be on a major label, and that’s also not the case. I’ve been on major labels. I've had success on a major label, and that success was still deemed not good enough. For me, it’s really about finding my own success, finding my own joy, celebrating my wins when they happen. And sometimes when you’re doing the whole art versus commerce thing, it’s really difficult to find the time to celebrate. I was #29 on the chart, which is a win by the way, but if you’re signed to the same company that has the #1 and #2 acts on that chart, you're seen as a failure.

So, I want to be in a position to celebrate my wins as they happen and when they happen. By not being on a major label and surrounded by red tape, I have been able to find my team of Avengers that really have made stuff happen for me. I have a lot of friends signed to major labels, and they can’t release music when they want to. They’re writing their asses off trying to find that hit, whatever that is — because people at major labels don’t know what that is until it’s a hit. There’s so much red tape.

I’m hoping the way I’m carving out my career and my story is a signal to other artists that this is more than possible. We can do this. There are allies in Nashville. They might not exist at major labels, but there are people that are dedicated to making Nashville and making Music Row a diverse place where our stories can be told. I’m really grateful and fortunate to be able to work with a lot of people that do care.

Subscribers get to see the full, unedited interview…