<\/p>\n
\n\tThere was only one place at CMA Fest<\/a> 2026 to hear an official playback of Miranda Lambert<\/a>\u2019s new song, \u201cCrisco\u201d: On a Nashville rooftop during Lambert\u2019s Crisco Disco Drag Brunch, delivered in shimmering rhinestones and a high-as-the-heavens red wig by beloved local queen Vidalia Anne Gentry. Though not listed in the official programming, the event, sponsored by Lambert\u2019s new label MCA, was one of a few moments during the annual festival \u2014 otherwise dominated by the reunion of Florida Georgia Line \u2014 where queer artists and allies were determined to create space and visibility.<\/p>\n \n\tThough Lambert herself wasn\u2019t present, her voice, her songs, and her inspirations were all over the morning\u2019s festivities, thanks to a trio of Nashville\u2019s favorite drag queens. Alexia Noelle tackled \u201cHeads Carolina, Tails California\u201d in pink satin, Vidalia performed \u201cMama\u2019s Broken Heart,\u201d and Heather Sapphire took on \u201cLittle Red Wagon\u201d in black leather, glitter, and fringe.<\/p>\n \n\tHosted by Katie Atkin, of the U.K. country podcast Girls in Low Places, it was most certainly a first for CMA Fest, in a year when only three openly queer artists played official showcases \u2014\u00a0Ty Herndon, Angie K, and Morgxn<\/a>. GLAAD also hosted a conversation offsite called Pride and Progress featuring Fancy Hagood, Shane McAnally, and Kaitlin Butts while Gretchen Wilson was in conversation with Melissa Etheridge, and Atkin recruited the Cowgays, the trio of Brooke Eden<\/a>, Chris Housman<\/a>, and Adam Mac<\/a>, for a conversation at Music City Center the day prior.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen I looked out into the crowd, you could see that it meant so much to the people who were watching,\u201d Atkin said of the event with the Cowgays (she wanted to bill the chat as \u201cGays in Low Places,\u201d but no such luck). \u201cThat it meant so much to them that there was a place for them to land in country music<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs the Crisco Disco brunch kicked off, Atkin polled the audience to see how many people had never before been to a drag show. A handful of people raised their hands and then proceeded to dance away (the queens also schooled them on proper drag etiquette including yelling \u201cFuck you, bitch!\u201d from the crowd). Drag is currently restricted in Tennessee, after the Adult Entertainment Act prohibited it from being performed where children are present, under the amorphous claim that it is \u201charmful to minors\u201d (the event was 21+ to comply). And though June is Pride Month nationally, Tennessee govneror Bill Lee declared it \u201cNuclear Family Month<\/a>\u201d locally, supporting only \u201cone husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted or fostered children\u201d as \u201cGod\u2019s design.\u201d<\/p>\n