Lesbian legend Mary Gauthier will celebrate 25 years of her landmark album this year. (Photo by Alexa King Stone)

Queer Music News is a smattering of what’s going on in music by LGBTQ artists and the artists we love.

This is a good year for lesbian music icon Mary Gauthier. Her Drag Queens In Limousines, the acclaimed sophomore album by the GRAMMY-nominee turns 25 this year. To commemorate this milestone, Kill Rock Stars announced this week that it will reissue the album on vinyl for the very first time on Oct. 18.

The vinyl package will include new retrospective liner notes written by Gauthier where she reflects on the recording and the impact it had on her inspiring path forward. From her notes:

Songwriting gave me purpose and helped me stay sober. I worked on my songs every day, played them at open mics at night, learned, and grew. A few years into the process I hired producer Crit Harmonto help me. We soon released a demo named after my Louisiana-style restaurant, then quickly got to work on what would become my debut album, which became our Hail Mary project, a full-scale attempt to make a name for ourselves in the music world.

Released independently on Sept. 13, 1999, Drag Queens In Limousines centered on character-based narratives spoke of the outsiders, those not considered the “normal” members of society.

“In retrospect, I believe these were the songs that helped me find my writer’s voice,” Gauthier said in a press release. “My characters, like me, were on the edge, but they were also on the verge. People cracked, crumbled, and burned as they tried to deal with the everyday dramas of love vs. lovelessness, community vs. loneliness, and despair vs. faith. I was learning about sobriety, humility, and about how a brutal crack in the ego could become a lifesaving gift. Many of these songs remain on my set list today.”

When Gauthier eventually had the songs that would become Drag Queens In Limousines, she financed the recording and manufacturing with her restaurant income. She even packaged her own CDs to send to radio stations. All that led to an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival and garnered a number of awards including Best Country Artist at the GLAMA awards (The Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards), Crossroads’ Silver Star Award and the Independent Artist of the Year award.

“At this point, I was 39, twelve years sober, and still running restaurants in Boston. The success of this record helped me decide to leave the restaurant business, move to Nashville, and start over. It was terrifying to imagine myself walking away from my successful businesses to pursue music full time (because, honestly, who in their right mind STARTS a career in music at age 40?). My hope was that I might be able to do it for real, that is, become a full time, professional songwriter. In my heart of hearts I knew I had to try. I had to dedicate my life to it in order to succeed,” she said.

In addition to the album reissue, Americana music will convene to honor Gauthier.

On Sept. 17, the Americana Music Association’s AMERICANAFEST will kick off with an All-Star Tribute to Mary Gauthier, featuring Lori McKenna, Rodney Crowell, Gretchen Peters, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Jaimee Harris, Steve Poltz and more to be announced.

Gauthier will perform Drag Queens In Limousines in full at the festival.

Also happening at the festival, journalist Jewly Hight will host the discussion, Drag Queens in Limousines Forever: The importance and influence of Mary Gauthier’s Songs. A special limited-edition pressing of the album on ruby red vinyl will only be available at the festival while supplies last.

Big year indeed. Pre-order the vinyl reissue here.

–Rich Lopez