Country Pioneer Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country Has Died
Lavender Country frontman, singer, songwriter, and the man who is widely recognized as the first openly gay country artist, Patrick Haggerty, has died according to his record label Don Giovanni Records. “Patrick Haggery was one of the funniest, kindest, bravest, and smartest people I ever met,” the label said in statement Monday afternoon, October 31st. “He never gave up fighting for what he believed in, and those around him who he loved and took care of will continue that fight.”
Based in Seattle, Lavender Country released the first gay-themed country album in history with their 1973 self-titled release. It wasn’t country music’s first gay album just because Patrick Haggerty happened to be gay. The songs were specifically about the gay lifestyle, and from a gay perspective. From Washington State originally and raised on a dairy farm, Haggerty was kicked out of the Peace Corps in 1966 for being homosexual. The Lavender Country album was funded by the Gay Community Social Services of Seattle.
Lavender Country was quite revolutionary at the time. In the early 70s, performers ran a big risk just being out of the closet, let alone broadcasting that fact through playing in a gay country band. Beyond the ridicule, openly gay musicians could be assaulted, and regularly received death threats. By standing against prejudice, Patrick Haggerty secured his name as an important figure in country music history. The original Lavender Country album is officially archived at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Lavender Country wasn’t just about the music. It was about the radical activist attitude, and the pushing of boundaries and buttons that the band symbolized. As a band, it never was as much of a going commercial concern as it was an idea. Patrick Haggery was a professed socialist, and it was one of numerous projects he used to express his activism, performing at Pride rallies and political functions.
Born on September 27th, 1944 in Washington State near Port Angeles, Patrick Haggery was the sixth of ten children, and says his parents were always accepting of his sexuality. After high school and being kicked out of the Peace Corps., Haggerty became a socialist and was heavily involved in the gay rights movement. He later formed Lavender Country with Michael Carr (keyboards), Eve Morris (vocals and fiddle), and guitarist Robert Hammerstrom (the only heterosexual member of the group.)
The original lineup of Lavender Country disbanded in 1976, but Lavender Country continued on as a collective off and on for many years. Haggerty was also a member of the gay country music group Doug Stevens & The Outband from 2001 to 2003, the gay country music group Pearl River in 2003, and also had a duo with blues artist Bobby Taylor called Memory Lane, which regularly performed classic country and folk songs at nursing homes and senior centers.
In more recent years, Patrick Haggery and Lavender Country experience a resurgence of interest. In 2019, Haggerty re-formed the band with Dennis Fortin and Mark Newstetter on guitar, violinist Calvin K. Murasaki, singer-songwriter Mya Byrne on bass, James Wilson on piano, and Joyce Baker on drums. They released the band’s second album Blackberry Rose and Other Songs and Sorrows in 2019, which was given a full release by Don Giovanni Records in early 2022.
Haggerty was also featured in a rendition of the Lavender Country song “I Can’t the Stranger Out of You” (shortened to “Stranger”) on Trixie Mattel’s 2020 album Barbara.
The music of Lavender Country was regularly described as amateurish and under-developed, but to many of the fans of the band and Patrick Haggerty, that was not the point. It was the pioneering and groundbreaking spirit Patrick Haggerty brought to the music that inspired other LGBT artists to fearlessly express themselves within the country space.
Patrick Haggerty is survived by his two children, biological daughter Robin Boland, adopted son Amilcar Navarro, and husband Julius “J.B.” Broughton. He was 78 years old.
October 31, 2022 @ 1:22 pm
I expect all comments here to be respectful. And if they’re not respectful, they’re subject to deletion. Thank you for your understanding.
October 31, 2022 @ 1:49 pm
Let me guess…you’ve already had to delete a few.
November 1, 2022 @ 5:50 am
wanna guess who?
October 31, 2022 @ 1:23 pm
Damn, Patrick and Leslie Jordan all within the same week… Rest in Peace. Long live their music.
October 31, 2022 @ 1:25 pm
Who?
October 31, 2022 @ 1:40 pm
I found a really informative article about that on the internet here:
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/country-pioneer-patrick-haggerty-of-lavender-country-has-died/
October 31, 2022 @ 2:22 pm
“…and also had a duo with blues artist Bobby Taylor called Memory Lane, which regularly performed classic country and folk songs at nursing homes and senior centers.”
This is very cool.
Bet a lot of those old timers really appreciated it, too.
October 31, 2022 @ 2:36 pm
Sad that he passed but I love that you are reporting on it! Thank you. The album is great and Pat and I exchanged a few e-mails back when the first reissue was being prepped by Paradise of Bachelors. Great guy and great talent. RIP Patrick. ❤
October 31, 2022 @ 3:19 pm
I’m failing to see how his legacy makes him a “Country Pioneer” other than the fact that he was openly gay in the early 70’s. A few parts of the country, including Seattle, had burgeoning gay scenes post Stonewall riots. There have been gay country artists that actually had notable careers including Ty Herndon and Jim Nahbors. Also I’ve heard of two current major country artists that are in the closet (from people who worked with them). I won’t name them. Haggerty seems to be more of a novelty in the grand scheme of things.
October 31, 2022 @ 4:37 pm
Patrick Haggerty was pioneering because he was openly gay and making country music in the early 70s. Ty Herndon’s career didn’t start until the early 80s, and he didn’t come out until 2014. Jim Nabors didn’t come out as gay until 2013, though of course there were rumors before. I would agree that Haggerty’s music was more of a novelty, and said as much here and when I reviewed his last album back in March. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a pioneer. Also, I don’t believe you should lie or embellish in an obituary, but I believe it’s a sign of respect for the dead to be complimentary. I sometimes or often disagree with some of my colleagues in the press or with the stated historical record in country music. But in this instance, I concur with the prevailing notion that Patrick Haggerty was the first openly gay country artist, and believe he should be recognized as such.
October 31, 2022 @ 5:40 pm
Why does being proud of one’s sin make them noteworthy? What is it about this sin? Do we honor the first openly murderous Country artist, or the first openly adulterous Country artist?
This is just such a bizarre concept.
October 31, 2022 @ 8:05 pm
I understand that some people’s religious leanings may teach that homosexuality is a sin. In the secular society we live in in the United States, what two consenting adults choose to do is their business and protected as a civil right. Patrick Haggerty was noteworthy because he paved the way for other LGBT individuals to find the courage to make country music if they so chose to. We don’t honor murderous country artists because they unwillfully impinged upon the civil rights of somebody else. I think that concept is pretty intuitive.
PS: I’m not interested in debating whether being gay is a sin. We can agree to disagree. This is simply an obituary and a news story. If you don’t believe it is noteworthy, feel free to move along.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:48 am
Hey, King Honky of Crackershire
One doesn’t choose to be homosexual, just as another chooses to be heterosexual. I had no choice in my sexuality, as I’m guessing you didn’t in yours?
We are just who we are.
I was born heterosexual and have many lovely gay friends. Trust me when I say they didn’t choose to be born this way.
They have all endured decades of abuse and assault, for just being who they can’t help but be.
I hope you can try and open your mind up to kindness and acceptance. We are all just out here doing our best. Including the folks that are just different from us.
Sending you aroha (love) from Aotearoa/New Zealand
Carla x
November 1, 2022 @ 5:52 am
idk you seem to be pretty proud of being a constant asshole? is that not a sin?
October 31, 2022 @ 7:43 pm
According to his Wikipedia page: “The band performed at the first Seattle Pride event in 1974,[8] and performed at numerous pride and other LGBT events throughout Washington, Oregon and California[3] until their dissolution in 1976.” He wasn’t exactly singing about the C*ck Suckin’ tears in any Roadhouse style country bars in Texas.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:17 am
Yesterday, many LGBT artists in country music came forth to remember Patrick Haggerty as directly inspiring them to become country artists. You may not believe he’s country, you may not like his music. But I think his influence on artists is clear, and his passing was worth noting.
One of the things that Saving Country Music does is write obituaries, including, if not especially, for obscure country artists and contributors. This has always been a focus of the site. Luckily for Patrick Haggerty, he was well known within the media, and many obituaries were written for him. Strangely, there were barely any obituaries written for Don Edwards, for example. But writing an obituary for Patrick Hggerty was compulsory. If you don’t think he deserved one, you’ve already made that point. Now at least have the common courtesy to understand this is about a deceased individual, and move on.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:30 am
You are being weak-minded trying to hide behind the fact that this is an obituary as a shield to intelligently defend your position that this guy was a “pioneer” in country music. All my criticism was fair and I used facts directly from his Wikipedia page. This guy was a gay activist first and foremost who had a single country album in 1973. He reemerged in the 2000’s and performed in nursing homes.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:39 am
You don’t need facts from the Wikipedia page. All of that information was included right here. You act like you’re unearthing something by saying this guy wasn’t some big, prolific artist when I’ve said as much myself. Nonetheless, he contributed, and myself, along with “Rolling Stone,” “Billboard,” “Pitchfork,” and a dozen other media outlets deemed his passing to be worthy of noting. That’s all it is. Nobody is lobbying to put him in the Hall of Fame. If this story doesn’t interest you, move on.
Also please note, Striat86, it is YOUR comments, and YOUR comments specifically that have now gotten the comments section on three separate articles closed. You specifically yare ruining the comment culture on a site visited by some 1.5 million people monthly. Either contribute something of value to this community, understand the rules and parameters, or move on.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:38 am
and the beatles stopped touring and then released their most influential and ground breaking music. but i guess because they didn’t play it in front of an audience (or the right one) it doesn’t count? the lengths people will go to excuse their bigotry and close mindedness is truly a spectacle, and truly profoundly sad.
October 31, 2022 @ 7:50 pm
Trig,
Don’t you find it odd that you feel compelled to censor certain perspectives, questions even? You’re just censoring viewpoints, in the United States of America, and patting yourself on the back for it, while also claiming journalistic integrity.
Step outside yourself if you can, and think about how strange that is.
Where do you draw the line? Can anyone gain your protection from criticism? What is the criteria necessary to receive your protection?
October 31, 2022 @ 8:10 pm
I don’t want to censor any comments. That is why I requested people not leave comments that are inappropriate to a news story on the death of this individual, or that are off-topic, so I won’t have to censor them. You can’t even leave comments on 95% of news stories on the internet. The fact that you can even leave comments here is an extreme privilege, and one people regularly take advantage of, including yourself, which has only resulted in more restrictions on comments.
October 31, 2022 @ 8:28 pm
It’s okay you don’t have name names we know it’s Chesney or current artist in there’s really nobody that would surprise me anyway but Mcbryde is probably the other
October 31, 2022 @ 5:22 pm
I’m sorry to hear he’s passed away but glad he lived to get the recognition he deserved. I’m not going to listen to his music because I didn’t enjoy it very much but I’ll put on DAC’s “Fuck Anita Bryant” in his memory.
I know you said to be respectful so I hope cursing is okay since it’s the name of the song.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:57 am
I’d never heard of Patrick til now. Thank you for championing his legacy here. I think it’s wonderful he was a pioneer in LGBTQ+ country music and it’s important to recognise it.
One of my massive issues with the music I love is it’s just so white and male. Straight white male.
Where are the minorities?
It’s why I love Orville Peck and Tami Neilson, who is a devout feminist. We need more diverse voices and attitudes in country music! We’re all the more richer for it.
November 1, 2022 @ 5:54 am
It’s telling that my comment simply quoting the song title of one of his most famous songs, was deleted.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:06 am
Your comment wasn’t deleted. It was sent to moderation and was approved, though you left the same comment three times, so the subsequent comments were deleted.
November 1, 2022 @ 6:26 am
“Eve Morris (vocals and fiddle)”
Fiddle? If it gets played at all, it’d be by Americana radio stations, or else the rock stations in my town who play Cash’s Ring of Fire and his cover of Hurt.
No way a 50,000 watt mainstream country station is going to play a song with fiddle in it today.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:40 am
Comments closed.