Texas-born singer-songwriter August Ponthier has spent the last few years building a beautiful community through queer country-pop storytelling, aliencowboy visuals, and songs that hinted at their true identity long before they put a name to it.From their breakout EP Faking My Own Death, to the aching vulnerability of Shaking Hands with Elvis, to touring with Bleachers, Hayley Kiyoko, Maren Morris, and most recently, Brandi Carlisle, their music has always welcomed people to be whoever they wanted to be. And no, its their turn.Next year, theyll release their debut album Everywhere Isnt Texas, their first full-length project, and their first as August, that pulls together everything theyve been feeling for years.And right now, August says theyre feeling something theyve never felt before.I feel so much emotionally lighter than Ive ever been, they tell me. I think I felt really fragmented for a long time. There were parts of me people could never understand or see.It took me a long time to recognize that I deserve to believe myself.Coming out as non-binary wasnt sudden, but the clarity arrived quickly once they spoke the truth aloud.I soft launched the idea to my loved ones, and I was like, Oh, maybe in a few years Ill do something about this. they say. Then the more I talked about it, the more I realized it was something I needed to do to be happy and to be who I really was.They describe years of internal back-and-forth, the feeling that they were making something up about their gender, even though theyd never think that about someone else.I just had a deep feeling in my heart that I was not one of the two options, they say, but I thought that I had made it up or something was wrong with me It took me a long time to recognize that I deserve to believe myself.Music often revealed the truth before they could.I mean, theres a lot of songs Ive written over the past few years that are pretty explicitly gender related, they explain. Handsome being one of them I should have known what was up, but its okay.They wrote the song a few years ago, but the lyrics are just as true now.Dont know if I wanna be with you or be you (be you)/Handsome, handsome boy, Im jealous of you (jealous)A Fan Helped Push Them ForwardOne of the breakthrough moments didnt come from a producer, a friend, or a collaborator, it came from a fan.I hear all the time in the merch line, You inspired me to do X, Y, Z, August says. And I loved that it was actually a fan, and it was the other way around that inspired me.A fan who had changed their own name unknowingly shifted something for August.It encouraged me to see someone I know in real life who had been impacted by the things that Ive written, they say. Sometimes it really just does take someone sharing an experience with you and being brave enough to make you realize that you also have the ability and the power.They call their relationship with fans absolutely symbiotic.Ive gotten so much out of seeing people who relate to my music and relate to my story.The Name August and the Unexpected ResponseWhen August publicly shared their name, they expected a polite, small-scale reaction.I thought maybe there would be 10 really psyched people, they laugh. And then I thought everyone else would be like, Okay, sure.Instead, the support shocked them.I have been completely blown away by the amount of support you can even tell when youre just looking through the way people talk to me online, theyre making an effort to address me as August.And in classic trans fashion, the emotional work wasnt the hardest part the logistics were.You never realize how many places your name is until you have to change your name telling your dentist or something, they say. I cant wait until everything is August everywhere.Honestly, your email spam folder, a dead name nightmare.A Debut Album About Home, Identity, and Growing Up Queer in TexasAugust describes Everywhere Isnt Texas as a full narrative a book youre meant to read from start to finish.I am a big picture kind of person. I love storytelling, they explain. This album is a queer coming of age story about where we grow up and how we process a place we love when it doesnt love us back.Theyre not shy about how complicated that relationship is.My feelings about where I grew up and who I am arent just one thing, they say. I have a really complicated, nuanced, deeply loving relationship with my home state thats a leader in what happens politically in our country.Songs like Handsome, Betty, and unreleased tracks like The Only Man on Earth capture these shifting, layered emotions. Even the visuals continue the cowboy-and-alien imagery thats followed them since Cowboy.These characters keep coming up for me, they say. They represent my closeness to Texas while also representing how much of an outsider I felt I never knew if there was a rule book that I never got.Their longtime collaborator Julian Buchan created the album art:He pulled every string possible Im so proud of it. Theres Easter eggs all over it.Opening for Brandi Carlile and What Comes NextEarlier this year, August performed with Brandi Carlile at Red Rocks for three nights, something they still cant quite believe.I would do anything for her, August says. She is such an incredible mentor.Theyre also working on a secret non-music related project, and, as they put it, pinching myself that the album is actually going to happen.Once Ive experienced what it can mean to truly live as myself, I never want to go back.More than anything, August wants their fans especially trans and non-binary listeners to know theyre committed to honesty.My instinct is always to get louder and be more honest and speak more truth, they say. My fans have given me the greatest gift of all time, which is helping me figure out who I am.And now that theyre here? Theres no going back. Heres a link to pre-save Everywhere Isnt Texas, in case you need it (which you do). Source