by Tessie Austin
RNBW is a Nashville-based community organization showcasing LGBT+ musicians of all genres. The group was founded by twin sisters Emily and Jamie Dryburgh and their friend Myylo as a way to bring Nashville’s growing community of LGBT+ musicians together. The organization produces monthly concerts, held at Tribe which showcase a variety of talent. Most recently, Myylo celebrated his record release party for his song Doc Martens. The event also featured Fimone, Kendall Swan, Zack Joseph and Jenna McDaniel.
Why did you form RNBW?
RNBW was formed as an effort to support and promote the progress of LGBT+ music in Nashville, as well as to connect and create community for LGBT+ artists, writers and entertainers in the music space.
How has it been received by the overall community and the LGBT+ community?
We have received overwhelming support from the community. We have extremely loyal fans and supporters and we are continually connecting with new creators who are grateful for the platform that RNBW has created. We have also developed amazing relationships with significant groups, companies and venues in Nashville looking to spread the love. It’s been amazing, and we are so excited about what is to come.
What are your goals for RNBW?
Our primary goal is to create a positive, safe space for LGBT+ music creators and beyond to share their crafts and connect with like-minded individuals who consume music. We all work in the music industry in different facets and noticed that despite the progress that has been made for our community, there just wasn’t a place where LGBT+ musicians could come together to celebrate and showcase their art. We are such a tight-knit and supportive community, and we knew that if it was executed the right way, RNBW would take off and become something truly amazing.
Among other things, we plan to build bigger, better and more frequent events. We’ve been asked to expand to several other major cities, which is something we’d like to do eventually. We are also in talks about putting on a small national tour with some of the talented artists from our collective.
What events do you have coming up?
We’ve got a lot up our sleeves but for now, we have a monthly showcase at Tribe, the 4th Friday of every month. They’ve been amazing partners. We’ve also partnered with Old Glory to hold a monthly Queer Party. We had a presence at this year’s HRC Live event, and we are also putting together a couple of big quarterly events that we are really excited about.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know?
We are always looking for new talent to share and showcase and are open to any conversation or idea that will help support our goals to spread the love for LGBT+ music.
