#trans man musician

[gender0bender]

IDs: two photos of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, an elderly black transgender man. The first photo shows him looking to the right and smiling serenly. He is wearing an open collar grey shirt and has close cropped grey hair, with a small fuzzy beard on his chin. The colours of the photo have been edited to look abstract and vibrant. The second photograph is of him sat in a yellow swivel chair with his legs crossed, resting his hands on his knee and smiling widely at the camera. He is wearing a dark blue suit with a light blue tie. ED.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/21/beverly-glenn-copelands-music-for-a-future-that-never-came

“In the early nineteen-eighties, Beverly Glenn-Copeland was living in a quiet part of Ontario famous for its scenic hills and lakes. He heard about the advent of the personal computer and, owing to a fascination with “Star Trek” and science-fiction futurism, became instantly intrigued. He bought one, even though he had no idea how to use it. Initially, he just walked around with his computer cradled in his arms, hoping that its secrets would reveal themselves.

For the next few years, Glenn-Copeland’s free time was spent shovelling snow, feeding his family, and teaching himself how to use his computer to make music. He later recalled that his creative community consisted of trees, bears, and rabbits—“the natural world, that was my companion.” He slept only a few hours a night, kept awake by the conviction that his computer could help him produce sounds that had never been heard before.

Glenn-Copeland, who is a transgender man, was born Beverly in Philadelphia in 1944. (He goes by Glenn, but he retained his birth name after his transition.) His family was middle class and Quaker, and many of the struggles faced by African-Americans seemed abstract to him as a child. His father would sit at the piano for hours a day playing Bach, Chopin, and Mozart, and Glenn-Copeland began learning the German lieder style of singing. He briefly studied with the opera singer Eleanor Steber. Occasionally, his mother would sing him Negro spirituals.

Glenn-Copeland enrolled at McGill University, in Montreal, in 1961, becoming one of its first Black students. At the time, he identified as female. After he was ostracized for being in an openly lesbian relationship, he dropped out and became a folk musician. In the late sixties and early seventies, he recorded a couple of bluesy folk albums that call to mind Joni Mitchell or Odetta, full of the kind of searching, heartbroken songs that one learns to write by listening to other people’s searching, heartbroken songs. Often, they sound as if Glenn-Copeland were trying to fit his operatic range into a narrow band of sentimentality. “So you run to the mirror in search of a reason / But the ice upon your eyelids only reminds you of the season / I don’t despair / Tomorrow may bring roses,” he sings. At first, his vocals are restrained and quivering. But then he lets loose, soaring above the strummed guitars and forlorn pianos.

By the time Glenn-Copeland began teaching himself how to use a computer, he was working in children’s television, writing songs for “Sesame Street” and performing on a Canadian program called “Mr. Dressup.” He had become immersed in Buddhism and its traditions. The music he was making was spacious and unpredictable, nothing like his work from the seventies. Some songs resembled techno anthems slowed to a crawl; others seemed like furtive experiments in rendering the sound of a trickling stream with a synthesizer. Instead of paeans to a lover, there were odes to higher powers and changing seasons, lyrics about spiritual rebirth and the great outdoors. “Ever New” slowly builds, a series of synth lines layering on one another, until Glenn-Copeland finally begins singing: “Welcome the child / Whose hand I hold / Welcome to you both young and old / We are ever new.” He made two hundred cassette copies of an album called “Keyboard Fantasies.” And then, befitting his life philosophy, Glenn-Copeland moved on to the next thing. More snow.”

[sanjipussyindulgence]

I’ve never made an edit before but the way the fandom treats yamato inspired so much rage in me it got me to try out a new hobby

[gaycrashbandicoot]

If anyone is interested in discovering some trans musicians who aren't c*vetown especially if ur into punk/pop punk/emo/indie/queercore/folk punk music then boy do I have the playlist for you!

This is a work in progress playlist I've been making of trans + nonbinary artists :3 only canonically and out trans artists not people who there's speculation about. Ftm, mtf and nonbinary artists included!

There's some popular artists and some less well known ones on there so hope u enjoy!

[bestboyseri]

Gainesville! It's getting close to that time of year again! I present to you the "Transiversary: Celebration of Trans Lives." This time as an all day event with doors at 12:30pm! Music from 1-7pm. It's a $5-20 sliding scale cover. We've got music, art, and community.

For your musical pleasure, we have Confession Kids, Dumpster Meds, Hellcat Tendencies, Degenerate State, BeBe Deluxe, Quil Darling, X Dirty Fingers, and a special DJ set by Wild Creatrix.

We also have our fantastic drag performers Lyre Antics and Delirium Primadonna Haze.

And our wonderful artists vending: Pillsbury Bread Co, Angel Obscura, hammflower, and Fae Geleh. Gainesville Food Not Bombs will also be tabling this event!

Flyer by Milky

[transboysoprano]

Almost one month until I start testosterone!

It's also that time of year when directors start sending out their contracts and letters of availability to musicians like myself, and I've had to start coming out to all of them in response. So far, I've gotten nothing but support from everyone and it genuinely makes me so grateful.

The general message I've been sending to them has been as follows:

"As part of my transition, I have decided to undergo hormone replacement therapy, and will be taking testosterone starting May 28th of this year. One of the effects of testosterone (as I'm sure you are aware) is on the voice. Its effects are the same as young men undergoing puberty, so my voice will most likely deepen over time into that of a phenotypically "masculine" voice. This is a decision I do not make lightly, and have come to after many years of consideration. I will be taking regular lessons with Dr. (DM me if you're looking for resources) who specializes in transgender voices as I undergo these changes. My goal is to continue singing at the highest level regardless of how my voice changes, but where it will most comfortably settle and how long that will take is up to genetics and fate. By next year, I may be able to sing tenor or baritone, though I intend to train my upper register to sing countertenor if possible."

Then I thank them and let them know that I'd like to re-audition for their ensembles when my voice has settled more. They've all responded positively and with excitement for me, and the chorusmaster for my city's opera company even said there would be no need, as she knows the work of the professor I'm taking lessons with and thinks I would benefit from being on stage this season(!!!!)

In other news, the symphony I do admin for had their soprano soloist drop out of the Mozart Requiem so guess who's learning the part and performing it in two weeks? Your boy!! It feels a bit kismet. What better way to honor the end of my soprano career than with a requiem?

I'm still nervous to all hell but I'm just so tired of living like this. I just feel like this decision is going to change everything for the better for me.

[stuffydollband]

Hey my husband (a he/they) told me “he/theys are into teeth stuff” while listening to my upcoming album, “Ganymede Gives Up The Ghost”. I know my audience has a lot of he/theys so could y’all please answer this and reblog it for a good sample size please

[yourdailyqueer]

Quinn Marston

Gender: Transgender man

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: 31 May 1988  

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Singer, songwriter, musician, artist

[paulmccartneyhole]

Somewhere there's a world where people think Bob Dylan died and Paul McCartney is FTM

and that world. is my beautiful mind.

[shermangiftbasket]

this just in: local trans musician spotted in coffee shop bathroom

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

jem is so trans-coded i'm being serious.

^ trans colors.

[arthur-r]

testosterone meeting complete?!?!?!?!???!!!

[tomedonaki-hakujou]

REBIRTH -- new album with eleanor forte, with the song release "Maiden's Clockwork" to commemorate 💜

youtube

spotify

bandcamp

soundcloud

[tomboy-brainwasher]

Transmasc Musicians Doc

So a while back some people were talking about an issue they were having, where they were looking for transmasc artists but kept getting recommended the same 1-2 artists to check out, or told to listen to transfem musicians they'd already heard about.

Obviously it's frustrating to not be able to see people like yourself in art, and having the option erased is too. So I took the suggestion and putting a google sheet together with every transmasc musician I could think of -plus recommendations from others- into a sortable google sheet

Trans Man and Transmasc Musicians

It's by no means conclusive, and if I had more help finding artists and their social media links -and someone to help curate/edit the doc- then I'd like to expand it to trans people in general, with the option to sort by gender if you want to listen to someone like you.

If you're a transmasc artist, or have transmasc musician references, send me your links to add to the doc.

[bestboyseri]

I just released my first single as Dumpster Meds! Please give it a look!

Banjo and recording by John W in the RENT STRIKE bus.

[transboysoprano]

I started testosterone today. After three days of staring at the bottle on my bathroom counter, I woke up, took a shower, told my partner to wake up and watch me for moral support, and put the slime on my shoulder. Simple as that I guess. Second puberty begins.

I felt kind of energized and excited earlier, but now I'm really exhausted. I imagine it's just the fact that I didn't get to sleep very early last night and had to wake up early for church today. I did Mendelssohn's "I Waited for the Lord" and "How Can I Keep from Singing" with my soprano buddy. Everyone complimented the music after the service, and she and I both knew this would probably be our last time singing together as sopranos. It was kind of bittersweet, but I thought we did a nice job.

I'm still planning on making recordings. My voice isn't going to change right away (I hope). I have a list of 25 songs I want to record the soprano and alto parts for, then later come back and record the tenor and possibly bass parts over it. I need to narrow it down to like five to eight or I'll overwhelm myself, but I really really hope I can do all of them before my voice cracks.

I still have two more gigs today so I will save the recording for tomorrow, though.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I'm absolutely insane.