Queer Country artist Brian Falduto releases new single «Skip The Step»

Best known as «the gay kid from School of Rock», country artist Brian Falduto has release a new single «Skip The Step».

This is the fourth single off his upcoming debut album titled «Gay Country» out this Spring. A «roll down the car windows» anthem about choosing to feel your pain in order to heal after a breakup, «Skip The Step» follows the release of his viral single «Same Old Country Love Song» which received TikTok love from «School of Rock» co-star Jack Black (1.3M views), and influencer Tate Hoskins (1.5M views).

Falduto says, «’Skip the Step’ is based on a conversation I had in therapy once. I was stuck in a hard place trying to move on from some relational pain, AND I was doing everything I knew how to do in order to process that pain: journaling, talking about it, meditating, traveling. Then one day it finally hit me: I needed to FEEL my pain, not just process it. My attempts to process it were my attempts to skip the step of feeling it. It’s an emotional song at its core but it’s delivered as one of most rockin’ tunes on the album. It’s very high energy; very crank it up & roll your windows down & let it out – it’s fun!»

Falduto adds he wanted to bring back key changes in a contemporary mainstream country song, saying, «I had to fight to get this song with a key change included on the album because I was told, ‘there aren’t key changes in country music anymore’ and ‘country radio would never play this.’ Mainstream country radio isn’t playing music from queer artists anyway so why would I follow a formula that’s designed to leave me out? If anything, it just made me want to include a key change more!»

Recently named «one of the 20 most influential, outspoken, and optimistic individuals on the planet» by PrideLife Magazine, Brian Falduto came into prominence after playing the role of Billy, nicknamed Fancy Pants by Jack Black in the cult classic film School of Rock. His participation in the film had a major impact on his coming of age having been so publicly visible as different but yet too young to come to terms with his sexuality. «My story is one of what happens when we try to label something we don’t understand in order to avoid our own discomfort», says Brian, a now-out-and-proud LGBTQ advocate. He has traveled the country performing and speaking at Pride events, sharing himself vulnerably and offering hope to countless young people through viral moments such as his interview with Now This News or his self-written coming out piece in The Advocate.

In 2020, Brian established himself as a passionate singer-songwriter and recording artist with the release of «God Loves Me Too», a song and music video offering the love and acceptance to queer youth of faith that he never felt he got when he was growing up gay in church. The project took home the Fan Favorite award at The 2020 International Independent Music Video Awards in addition to garnering support from The Trevor Project, GLAAD, Beloved Arise, & several other LGBTQ-affirming organisations. The song was chosen as the Loud & Proud feature on Apple Country’s Proud Radio and the music video went on to become a selection in both the World Music Festival & The Fort Smith International Film Festival.

Falduto adds, «Even as recently as four years ago, I was really unclear about my identity as an artist in the country lane. I knew that I would never deny being gay for the sake of being a successful country music artist but I simultaneously felt as though I had to be careful how I pitched myself. How much of my queerness would be acceptable amongst the audience I’m trying to reach? I found familiarity in navigating what might be too much or too little because that’s what I used to do when I was younger to survive», He continues, «Thanks to continual internal work and the external influence of trailblazers like Kacey Musgraves, Orville Peck, Lil Nas X, TJ Osbourne, Brandi Carlile and Ty Herndon, I now know what’s possible in this genre (and in life) when you put the rule book down for a minute and dare to be yourself boldly. I refuse to play a game I wasn’t picked for or follow a formula that wasn’t built for me».

Brian Falduto’s new single has been added to my playlist.