June is Pride Month and all month long we’re spotlighting queer Austin musicians of today and the legends who paved the way.
Benjamin Violet was raised in Austin. As a queer person, they were homeschooled in a conservative family and later attended a Christian high school, so Violet didn’t feel part of any community. After spending over a decade in Seattle, life brought Violet back to Austin, a move they say was “the nicest thing I’ve ever done for myself.” In moving back, Violet found themselves thriving in the city’s queer community, playing in bands like ANDY and Carry Illinois, and just truly finding a home.
Violet started getting into the style and history of country music in 2016, using it as a guide to process and make sense of what it meant to be and feel like an American in the current time. The education inspired the formation of Pelvis Wrestley in 2018, a unique blend of glam-pop and country music. On Pelvis Wrestley’s debut album, Vortexas Vorever, Violet asks, what is country music, what is being an American, and who gets to decide? A second album is expected early next year.
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