Despite our collective cowboy fantasies, it’s easy to imagine country music as being one of the last bastions of heteronormativity. In fact, as Calgarians, many of us are likely more acutely aware of this than the population at large. It’s refreshing, even inspiring, then, to see artists like Drake Jensen who are not only talented, but unapologetically out in what can, at times, be a hostile environment. I had a chance to speak with Jensen recently about performing, building an independent career, and some of the rough spots along the way.

Jensen, an affable, enthusiastic man, was eager to tell me about some of the recent work he’d done playing Pride festivals in Kitchener and Port Stanley Ontario, but the biggest coup of all had to be opening Nashville’s own Pride festivities. I was a bit surprised to learn, then, that he considers himself a bit of a homebody. "I really am. When we did Nashville, we went for a few days ... and it was great, but I don’t like being away from home for weeks upon weeks." Homebody or no, he won’t be deterred from visiting Calgary – he’s definitely aware of his fans out on the far side of the prairies. "I keep being asked to come, so it’s going to be something that I’ll have to do very, very soon ... probably in the next twelve months."

As an independent artist, a strong presence on social media has been instrumental to Jensen’s career thus far. With Facebook fans closing in on 10,000, views on his YouTube channel nearing 1,000,000, and a responsive, jovial presence on Twitter, he connects with his supporters in a way that seems to make them very invested in his success. And of course, ‘success’ isn’t only defined by number of albums sold. Speaking about his close connection with fans and supporters, one anecdote stood out: a long, heartfelt email described how a fan in the U.S. "overheard a woman talking about her son who was being bullied at school, and apparently by her husband, too. [The fan] mentioned [the song] Scars to her, she went and watched it, and she brought her husband to watch it, and apparently it made a profound change, and her husband started to treat their son better. He realized that maybe he was being too hard on his son. Sometimes when you think that you’re not making any difference at all is when you’re actually making the most. If that’s what my music is meant to do, then so what if I’m not number one on Billboard? If I have affected a father who’s treating his son better, then I’ve rectified one very bad situation in the world. It’s worth a lot more than a hit song."

That sort of perspective isn’t uncommon for this thoughtful artist. At 43, Jensen has a bit of seniority on many artists in the second and third years of their careers, but as far as he’s concerned, the additional maturity and calm has been a godsend. "If I were to stop right now and never record another song, the things that I’ve learned through this two-year experience have been the most valuable things that I’ve learned in my whole entire life. It’s made me a very different man. I’m much more level-headed." With his positive outlook, even the occasional detractor contributes to his well-being. "You couldn’t be happy if you weren’t sad once in a while."

Attitude would seem to make all the difference, as Jensen has had a tough row to hoe by any measure, especially in the face of the continued silence from groups like the CCMA, and in the US, Country Music Television. "At one point I thought, oh, CMT is going to pick my video up, especially with 150,000 hits on it. I love to be naive that the world is gay-friendly, and that everything is really great. Even with the marriage thing in the US, yes, it was a huge breakthrough, but there’s an awful lot of work still to be done." Mentioning that Scars had hit number 20 on the European Top 100 – an impressive feat for an independent artist – Jensen was disappointed in the reaction of the country music establishment. "You would think the CCMA would want to give me a showcase, however they’ve turned me down two years in a row. Eventually we started to figure it out. Here I am being reviewed by Robert Oermann – the ultimate authority in country music – who is a major tough critic who’ll cut you down to size, and he loved me. There I am at the top of Music Row Magazine with Kellie Pickler, and the CCMA wouldn’t even look at me. It was the most frustrating thing in the world."

"I had to get to the point where I stopped taking it personally. They’re obviously afraid of embracing anything gay."

Undeterred, Jensen and his management company, Soaring Eagle Productions, are now following their own path. "We’ve kind of steered away from the organizations, and steered toward the fans, and it’s been much better for us. Thing have changed so much with media that we’re sort of in control of our own destiny. I finally get the fact that the music will land in people’s hands."

Jensen now sees his role, now, as something of a trailblazer. "In 10, 15, 20 years’ time, people are going to look back and go, oh, remember that Drake Jensen guy who came out and had a really rough time, but look at it today. I think that I’ll probably be one of the grandfathers of gay country music – me, along with Patrick Masse." We discussed a recent article on Buzzfeed, which billed American Steve Grand as "the first openly gay male country star." This might have ruffled feathers for others, but true to form, Jensen sees only the upside. "People are tweeting me and emailing me saying, oh my gosh, they’re saying he’s the first out country singer, and aren’t you mad? And I’m like, God no I’m not mad! We just birthed another one – now we’ve got three. I’m all about unity – maybe if that had happened two or three years ago I would’ve been insecure about it, but I really changed." Country music culture may be slow to change, but it’s only a matter of time before it catches up with Jensen, Masse, and Grand.