Steve Grand has come a long way in such a short time. Born in 1990 to a Catholic family in Illinois,
Grand began writing music at the age 11.
By the time he was 13, Grand realized his sexual orientation didn’t fit
in with his family’s religious lifestyle, but he courageously started coming
out to his friends while he was in the eighth grade. His parents learned of his sexuality shortly
thereafter, and enrolled him in “orientation conversion therapy” during the
remainder of his high school years.
Lucky for his fans, it didn’t take. (News flash: it can’t take. We are who we’re
born to be!) Grand graduated from high
school and left Illinois to attend university in Nashville. After a year, he returned home to enroll at
The University of Illinois, deciding later to leave to pursue a music career.
Hailed as the first openly gay male country singer, Grand
first modeled under the name Steve Chatham and performed cover songs and played
piano in the Chicago area. Earlier this
year, he recorded a music video for his song “All-American Boy,” producing it
himself at the cost of $7,000.00. The
video, which was posted on YouTube for the Fourth of July weekend, went viral,
and in eight days, had amassed more than one million views.
I’m not usually a fan of country music (I’m still in the closet
when it comes to my “like” of Toby Keith); when it comes to Steve Grand, I say,
“Grand, indeed,” and just have the itch to pick up a guitar for some lessons
with the “All-American Boy” himself.
Lots more photos are
on Steve’s website – www.stevegrand.net. And
here’s the link to his video if you’re one of the few who haven’t viewed it (blink-and-you’ll-almost-miss-it-butt-shot-included)
yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjiyjYCwNyY.
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