Fimone, a Minnesota native and Nashville-based queer country artist, reflects on her personal journey and advocacy for social justice. #News #MinneapolisMN #Minnesota #QueerVoices
By JACK AND KITTY
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Minnesota native and rising country star Fimone just released the haunting music video for her latest single, “Will,” exclusively on Rainbow Rodeo – Home of Queer Country Music. The intense video, directed by Fimone, explores the themes of life, death, and personal resilience, with striking visuals of them literally burying themselves alive.
Fimone sat down with JackAndKitty.com, to talk about her upbringing in rural Minnesota, her near-death experience at age 12, and how those moments shaped her music. It’s a fascinating interview below.
Alongside her music career, Fimone is a dedicated advocate for social justice and equality. Her latest single, produced by Grammy-winner Greg Magers (Umphrey’s McGee and Grammy-winning spoken word artist J. Ivy), is the lead track from Fimone’s upcoming EP Fascination, dropping Oct. 25.
The EP was recorded in New Orleans, inside the last brothel once run by Norma Wallace, a story that continues to inspire Fimone’s work.
Kitty had the chance to dive deeper into Fimone’s creative process, personal journey, and upcoming plans.
Our Exclusive Interview with Fimone:
Kitty Norton: You grew up in Minnesota. Where are you from? Tell me a bit about your formative years here. Also, where are you based now?
Fimone: I grew up on a generational farm outside of Olivia, Minnesota. It’s a small rural community of about two thousand people that is two hours from Minneapolis. I lived there until I was 18 and then went to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
As soon as I graduated, I moved down to Nashville, TN, where I’ve been based ever since. My family still lives in and around Olivia.
Kitty Norton: Has Minnesota influenced your music in any way?
Fimone: My mother and grandmother sang as a duo at weddings and funerals in our small rural community, just like The Judds. Growing up, the radio was always on and always set to a country radio station, and that has definitely influenced my music.
I grew up on 70’s, 80’s and 90’s country music and you can hear it in my songwriting and melodies. I love a good story song like Reba’s “That’s the Night that the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” or Bobbie Gentry’s “Fancy.”
My mother would often dance with the refrigerator door while she made dinner. I sang in the church choir, the school choir, started piano lessons around second grade, played saxophone starting in fifth grade and bought my first guitar at 15.
Kitty Norton: Can fans in Minnesota or the Midwest expect any live performances in the future?
Fimone: Definitely! I try to play in Minnesota at least once a year. I’m currently booking for a fall show in Minneapolis and Chicago, so stay tuned and check my website!
Kitty Norton: Tell me, if you can, about your near-death experience and how that has influenced your music.
Fimone: When I was 12-years-old, I was involved in a traumatic jet ski accident that left me in the hospital for two weeks and a list of life threatening injuries.
While I was waiting for the ambulance to get to me, I had an experience that gave me a glimpse into what happens when we die. That experience gave me a lifelong appreciation for being alive and is a constant reminder of how quickly our time here can come to an end.
It has influenced every aspect of my life, and ever since, a lot of my songwriting is about my life. My most recent release, ‘Will,’ asks the question, “Tell me what you’re gonna do with this precious life?”
Kitty Norton: Has this had an affect on you spiritually in any way? If so, how.
Fimone: Absolutely. I was raised Catholic and never felt connected to the image of a male God and a white Jesus. Neither of those images were present during my near-death experience (NDE), so from a very young age, I was very skeptical about what I was being told to believe.
Once I discovered that other religions existed, I voraciously read about all of them. But when I put together that they were mostly male centric, and written by men, I stopped reading them and stopped believing in them. I trust my own experience now. I find that my spirituality now centers on my own heart, my own experience and my intuition.
For years, I was too afraid to speak out about my NDE for fear that I’d be seen as crazy. Or, that people would just think I wasn’t good enough to have experienced the male God or Jesus I had been taught about. I believe that spirituality is as much a part of us as our hands or feet. It connects us to the whole universe. The iron in our blood is made up of literal stardust.
I can’t tell you exactly what happens after we die because I didn’t continue on that journey, but I can tell you from my experience, that at the moment of death, it’s the most peaceful, beautiful thing I have ever experienced.
The one thing that has remained with me all these years following that NDE is to remember to live in the NOW. Smell the flowers, take the trip, let go of fear, taste the honey and feel the sun on your face. Like I said, “Tell me what you’re gonna do with this precious life?”
Kitty Norton: What has your experience been as a queer artist in Nashville? What about Tennessee? My hubby Jack and I lived in Nashville for 10 years and we loved it!
Fimone: I moved to Nashville in 2008 and wanted to be the next Wynonna. I grew up in rural Minnesota listening to FM country radio with artists like Wynonna, Reba, Terri Clark, Garth Brooks and Dwight Yoakum.
When I got there, I realized pretty quickly that country music wasn’t too fond of people who identify as LGBTQ+. I wasn’t out yet, but my brother was, and I heard enough slurs about gay men in some of those songwriter’s circles to know that what I was feeling and writing about wasn’t going to be welcomed.
So, I gave country music the middle finger, and went the indie rock route for a good decade. But those country roots would always come through in my music, whether it was in my storytelling lyrics, the music or the melodies.I never could quite escape it, and even though I was a whole lot more country than a lot of the people who defined what country music was, I was really pissed off at country music for a long time.
And every time I turned on country radio to hear what was popular, all I heard was some dude singing about objectifying women, whiskey and beer, and how big his truck was.
Even today, women only make up about 15% of airplay on country radio. But, I continued to grow and I became more confident in who I was as a person and within my own sexual identity.
Today, I want to show all those little girls growing up somewhere out there in rural America that country music isn’t just for one kind of person, it’s as diverse as the people who make it, who grew up on it, and who listen to it.
I’m from the country, I’m married to a woman, and I grew up baling hay and sorting cattle. Tell me, what’s more country than that? Nashville has definitely changed, and the fact that CMT will be playing my newest music video for ‘Will’ on their broadcast channel for the next four weeks is a testament to how it is changing. Nashville is still a blue dot in a red state and there remains a lot of work to do.
Kitty Norton: What are some queer-friendly spots in Nashville you can recommend? Bars, clubs, coffeeshops?
Fimone: Lipstick Lounge. Their description is “a bar for humans.” I also happen to play there quarterly. Canvas Lounge is another awesome queer bar with a really swanky feel. The Bowery Vault is one of my favorite live music venues in Nashville and it is owned and operated by a queer couple.
Kitty Norton: Who are your top five favorite musicians of all time?
Fimone: Nina Simone, Etta James, Tom Petty, Cher, Gwen Stefani.
Kitty Norton: My husband Jack wanted me to ask if you have any funny dad jokes.
Fimone: I don’t know a single dad joke.
Kitty Norton: Haha. He’ll be disappointed, but I’m relieved! I really appreciate you chatting with me. One last question: where will Fimone be in 10 years?
Fimone: Sitting in the courtyard of my house in New Orleans, listening to my wife teach our daughter how to cook, while I am practicing the songs off my latest record. I’m preparing for my European tour with my favorite musicians and looking at my Grammy on the bookshelf.
To connect with Fimone check out her website here and Instagram here. Watch Fimone’s “Will” music video on Rainbow Road here. Photos of Filmone are by Emily Tingley.
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