Steve Erickson, Gay City News Journalist Profile

Articles

Lesbian indie musicians Julien Baker & TORRES team up for new country album

6 days ago | gaycitynews.com | Steve Erickson

Through her first three solo albums, Julien Baker established her voice as a piano-based singer/songwriter and a rocker. After reaching a new height of stardom with boygenius, she is returning with a country album made as a duo with fellow lesbian musician TORRES. It’s a labor of love, in the works since 2020, not an obvious stepping stone in Baker’s career. Moves from pop or rock into country always threaten to be posturing, but “Send a Prayer My Way” reflects both singers’ southern roots.
‘Queens of Drama’: Two pop stars fall in love amidst the dangers of fame

1 week ago | gaycitynews.com | Steve Erickson

“Queens of Drama” spans 50 years, taking that much time to map out of the movement between two songs: “Don’t Touch” and “Fisting to the Heart.” Queer, non-binary director Alexis Langlois took the most baroque fantasies inspired by pop singers and their fandom, running wild with them in this musical. Their film takes wild delight into garish, bright colors. The production design is gloriously tacky. Even so, it never settles into a comfort zone of mere prettiness.
March LGBTQ music: Lucy Dacus and OHYUNG

1 month ago | gaycitynews.com | Steve Erickson

This month, Gay City News reviews the latest albums by queer singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus and trans artist OHYUNG. Lucy Dacus | “Forever Is a Feeling” | Geffen | March 28thWith her major label debut, “Forever Is a Feeling,” Lucy Dacus stands in a far different position than the one she occupied when her last solo album dropped in 2021.
Opaque Genre Experiments

1 month ago | slantmagazine.com | Steve Erickson

One reliable aspect of a Destroyer album is that it will mark a change in style from the Canadian band’s previous release. But regardless of the genre or genres—glam rock, country, synth-pop, and more—that the group dabbles in, another constant in its music is frontman Daniel Bejar’s patented sardonic worldview. Destroyer’s 14th studio album, Dan’s Boogie, reportedly ended a period of writer’s block for the singer-songwriter, and the songs here sound like they were conceived in a jam session.
Vancouver police issue an Amber Alert for a 2-year-old boy taken by his father

1 month ago | richmondsentinel.ca | Steve Erickson

Vancouver police have issued an Amber Alert for two-year-old Theodore Lim, who they say is believed to be in imminent danger. Police say the boy is thought to have been taken from a location on East Broadway by his father, Davis Lim. They say Theodore Lim has a medical condition that requires a ventilator, but he is currently without a piece of that equipment and may go into medical distress.
Congo government and M23 rebel group will hold peace talks on March 18, mediator Angola says

1 month ago | richmondsentinel.ca | Steve Erickson

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo's government and the M23 rebel group will participate in peace talks on March 18, Angola said Wednesday. A statement from Angolan President João Lourenço's office said they would begin “direct peace negotiations” in the Angolan capital, Luanda. Angola has acted as a mediator in the conflict in eastern Congo, which escalated in late January when the Rwanda-backed rebels advanced and took control of the strategic eastern Congo city of Goma.
In his own words: Trump takes credit for stock market rises but casts aside blame for sell-off

1 month ago | richmondsentinel.ca | Steve Erickson

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump in recent days has dismissed fears of a recession and brushed aside the stock market sell-off, going so far as to say, “You can’t really watch the stock market." That's a new message from a leader who has frequently pointed to the market's ups and downs as a reflection of himself and his activities, even when he was not in power.
‘Being Maria’ charts a bisexual actress’ traumatic encounter with Marlon Brando

1 month ago | gaycitynews.com | Steve Erickson

“Actors don’t choose, roles choose actors,” says one character in Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria.” A biopic of bisexual actor Maria Schneider (Annamaria Vartolomei), it makes the case that her life was ruined by a confusion between performer and character. She’s best known for appearing in Bernardo Bertolucci’s (Giuseppe Magio) 1972 “Last Tango in Paris,” as the much younger lover of a desperate middle-aged man played by Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon).
A ‘First Look’ at new queer films at the Museum of the Moving Image

1 month ago | gaycitynews.com | Steve Erickson

Following MOMA’s “Documentary Fortnight” and overlapping with Lincoln Center’s “Rendezvous with French Cinema,” the Museum of the Moving Image’s “First Look” program livens up the first quarter of the year by offering New Yorkers our earliest opportunity to see a variety of international films from 2024 and 2025.
Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing

1 month ago | richmondsentinel.ca | Steve Erickson

NEW YORK (AP) — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing. The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government's cost-cutting measures.