As a country music singer-songwriter, Stansell has been an advocate for the queer community and the advancement of LGBTQ artists in a traditionally conservative genre.
In 2018, the music video for his single "Hometown" was the first LGBTQ-themed video to premiere on CMT and was named one of Rolling Stone's 10 Best Country Videos of the Year. In 2020, he released "Hurt People," a heartbreaking EP about his own family's response to his coming out.
The EP also served as the soundtrack to his documentary, "Three Chords and a Lie," the title of which is a play on the Harlan Howard quote about country music being essentially "three chords and the truth." Stansell discussed his struggles with his Southern Baptist family as he prepared for his first hometown show. The documentary was produced by OutTV and former Chattanoogan Leslie Jordan, an actor, singer and author who has long been openly gay. It premiered at OutFest in Los Angeles in August of 2020.
Stansell said the journey hasn't always been easy, but he is happy today because -- or in spite -- of it.
"I grew up in a small little Baptist church out in Georgetown, and they told me all sins were equal, unless you are gay," he said in a Zoom interview. "Then you hit the lottery. I was so ashamed.
"And then, thanks to years of therapy and a good community, there is not a thing I would change. Being gay is one of my most favorite things about me. I am happy with who I am in this world."
Stansell said he and Jordan met standing in line at a Starbucks in Los Angeles. Stansell said he doesn't remember exactly how or why the two started talking, but they determined that country artist Ty Herndon is a mutual friend.
"And neither me or Leslie ever met a stranger, so we started talking," Stansell recalled.
Stansell is perhaps best known for the song "Hometown," which he released in 2017.
The song opens with:
It's been a while since I've seen you
With your one red light and Baptist steeple
The people here are hard to face
The memories harder to erase
Of all the things that make up what was home
It's funny how they make me feel alone.
No one was more surprised by its success than Stansell, who said he never intended to release it because it is so personal. He sang it one night at a backyard gathering, and friends immediately told him that would be his next single. Its themes of feeling excluded, whatever the reason, are universal, he said.
"This straight white woman ran up to me when I finished and said, 'I should have written that,'" he said. "I was so convinced that this song wouldn't find a home anywhere."
Stansell returns to his hometown on Thursday for an acoustic set at Gate 11 Distillery at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. He last played there in the fall of 2019.
"We're real excited to have him back," owner Bill Lee said.
"He drew a great crowd of local people last time, and we are excited to see how he has evolved."
Stansell's latest project, "This Must Be the Place," was released as an EP in September 2021. A new LP version, which contains the original six tracks and four new songs, was released June 24.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Follow him on Twitter @BarryJC.
If you go
— What: Brandon Stansell with Courtney Cole in concert
— When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25
— Where: Gate 11 Distillery, 1400 Market St., Suite 108
— Tickets: $15
— Phone: 423-425-4283