Nashville ALT-MERICANA Songwriters Showcase

The queers are doing it for themselves! While that OTHER Americana music festival is in town, we're spotlighting some of the best LGBTQ+ music on the scene at the legendary Lipstick Lounge. Take a break from the gladhanding and hetero-shoulder rubbing to hear sets from Melody Walker, Julia Cannon, Mark Robert Cash, Mya Byrne, and Flamy Grant. Hosted by Lipstick's own queen Kennedy Ann Scott.

21+ / $15 advance, $20 at the door

Proceeds will benefit the ACLU of TN's drag defense fund.

Melody Walker is a GRAMMY-winning songwriter, producer, performer, and fervent believer that songs can change the world. Best known for her writing with Molly Tuttle, Sierra Ferrell, Della Mae and her own band Front Country, Melody’s post-2020 recalibration has found her finally digging into her home of Nashville, TN, co-writing with her talented neighbors and hosting a weekly writers’ round, in East Nashville. Her blend of grassroots pop has won her accolades from Merlefest to Telluride and now the GRAMMYs with three songs on Sierra Ferrell’s GRAMMY-winning album Trail of Flowers, including winner of the Best American Roots Song “American Dreaming” and co-writes on Molly Tuttle’s GRAMMY-winning albums Crooked Tree and City of Gold.

Shame-slaying, hip-swaying, chart-topping performer Flamy Grant is a powerhouse vocalist and award-winning songwriter based in Asheville, NC. With over 1.5 million streams on digital platforms, a win at the 2023 Kerrville New Folk contest, and a 2025 International Folk Music Awards nomination for Artist of the Year, Flamy blends country, folk, gospel, and roots music to deliver a theatrical, therapeutic, and wholly original experience of intrepid storytelling, all shared through the evocative art of drag.

Julia Cannon is an Alaska raised and now Nashville-based songwriter, recording artist and music producer who is hard to forget. Known for producing and mixing her own music, her outstanding musicality, disarming persona, beauty, style, and offbeat humor, Julia Cannon is a bright star to watch. In July of 2022, she made her Newport Folk Festival debut, performing with the Black Opry as well as Langhorn Slim, Sierra Ferrell, Joy Oladokun, Adia Victoria, and several more earning her a nod from Rolling Stone. You can also find Julia’s name on a plaque as a part of the Black Opry’s exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame, or opening for musicians such as Iniko, when they come through town.

Mya Byrne is a stalwart figure in roots music, and a proud queer trans woman. Her rule-breaking 2023 album, “Rhinestone Tomboy”, struck deeply in the alt-country scene, with major coverage in Rolling Stone, NPR, and No Depression; Apple Music calls her music “a bold, bluesy, glammed-up spin on timeless Americana.” Her live show, solo or with a band, is at once hi-octane and intimate— crackling like a trash fire, but sweet as clover.

Mark Robert Cash emerges as one of Nashville’s most compelling genre-blending talents, seamlessly fusing country, R&B, pop, and gospel into a sound that’s uniquely his own. With a bold presence on both stage and screen, Cash first captured attention through his acting roles in Still The King alongside Billy Ray Cyrus and three seasons of ABC’s Nashville. A proud advocate for authenticity and self-expression, he has graced stages at Nashville Pride and Pride 615, becoming a celebrated figure in spaces that champion individuality. Inspired by icons such as Whitney Houston, Reba McEntire, and Kelly Clarkson, Cash infuses their emotional resonance with a fresh, modern edge that defines his sound.

Host or Publisher Flamy Grant