Orville Peck ’s cryptic persona and throwback sound have earned him a reputation as an outlaw cowboy among fans. The country singer-songwriter, however, doesn’t see his career path as subversive at least in regard to his sexuality.
The Canadian-born Peck, who is gay, was selected this month by Apple Music for its Up Next initiative, focused on showcasing new and emerging artists from around the world.
In a short documentary released by Apple Music to commemorate the honor , Peck says he doesn’t spend much time thinking about how his voice is helping to diversify the country genre.
“People talk about how it’s refreshing to have a gay perspective in country music,” he says in a clip from the film, viewable above. “Of course, I get that. But the fact that I’m gay comes in my mind very, very infrequently.”
“I’m just writing the same way that any singer writes a love song. Mine just happens to be about men,” he added.
Despite the fact that it’s widely seen as a conservative genre, country music now boasts a handful of visible LGBTQ musicians and personalities among its ranks. Last year, Lil Nas X scored a game-changing smash with “Old Town Road ,” and he became the first openly gay Black artist to receive a Country Music Association Award in the process.
Peck, however, remains an enigma to critics and fans. His 2019 debut album, “Pony,” drew favorable comparisons to Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley . At the same time, he has kept his identity a mystery, using a stage name and concealing his face behind a leather-fringe mask like a modern-day Lone Ranger.
But Peck, who has said he’s “been a cowboy since I was a kid,” shrugs off the suggestion that his image is simply a marketing gimmick.
“There’s a lot of theatricality to what I do and that’s purposeful,” he told VICE last year. “It’s ironic because, at the same time, I truly believe [‘Pony’] is the most sincere thing I’ve done artistically, the most exposed that I’ve ever been as a singer, as a writer, as an artist.”
Catch Apple Music’s Up Next film with Orville Peck here .