Local artists featured in new podcast

“I just reached out to a few family members and a few friends and they were really excited to come on,” she said.

Cotes’ first guest this week will be LJ Tyson, but down the line she also be talking to Saskatchewan Country Music Award nominee Kaetlyn Lehner, as well as a rapper from the Flin Flon area.

“I really wanted to include every genre. Nothing is off limits,” Cote said.

LJ Tyson, a singer/songrwriter from Prince Albert, told paNOW he is thrilled to be a part of the podcast.

“I think it’s such a great idea that she’s doing a podcast now because she knows first hand what it’s like to be a musician and a songwriter and her listeners are really going to appreciate that,” he said.

Tyson identifies both as an Indigenous artist and as a member of the LGBTQ2+ community, and has recently launched a gofundme campaign as a means to raise funds to have a special song he wrote properly recorded and released. The name of the song is Home on the Rainbow, and, according to Tyson, is a great conversation starter for other artists, like himself, who have felt cast aside.

“I tried to make an anthem for anyone that’s ever felt different or overlooked,” he said.

(YouTube/LJtysonMusic)

On the gofundme page, Tyson talks openly and honestly about his own experiences with racism, and recalled an encounter he had once when coming off stage. At the time, Tyson was wearing a jean jacket with an indigenous design on the back—a jacket he was proud to show off as a way to represent his culture while performing the country genre.

“Two men then came up to my mom and I after the show and said in a threatening tone ‘I wouldn’t wear that kind of stuff around here, you might get shot.’ This horrified my mother, but I didn’t allow her to say anything or make it public because I was terrified.” he said.

Tyson explained when he came forward as a member of the LGBTQ2+ community and started to talk about it in his shows or online, people chose to ignore him, treated him differently, or accused him of spreading a “gay agenda”. Tyson cited examples of sending personal bios to events he was playing at only later to see them get heavily edited with no mention of his sexual orientation.

“To me, that felt wrong because speaking out is such a hard thing for me and I do it publicly and through my music because I want others to know that they can as well do that,” he said.

Three years ago, Tyson was walking on the street in Saskatoon, and was beaten to the point where he had his jaw broken. While Tyson doesn’t remember much about the incident, he can recall the words, “fag, homo, and gay” being thrown at him as insults. Tyson spent two months in hospital with his jaw wired shut.

“After that I had to relearn how to sing and the trauma that came along with that is still a big factor in my life,'” Tyson said. “I want people to know what it’s like to be an LGBTQ2+ person and what its like to be a part of a minority group.

As of Monday, the online fundraising campaign had raised nearly $2,300.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

Local artists featured in new podcast

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