Glen Meadmore

Glen Meadmore is a Canadian musician, actor and performance artist currently residing in Los Angeles.

Biography

Glen Meadmore was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As a teenager, Meadmore played bass and sang with Winnipeg punk band The Psychiatrists. He later became involved in performance art, and appeared on local public access television on his own cable show.

Meadmore moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s. He continued working as a performance artist, appearing at the famed punk, avant garde, artist scenester hangout nightclub the Anti-Club where he became renown for his outrageous performances. During this time, he met African American queer political performance artist Vaginal Davis and the two formed the band Pedro, Muriel and Esther, also known as PME, one of the earliest queer punk bands to emerge. Both Meadmore and "Vag" performed with the band in drag, and were photographed in drag for the cover of their EP on Amoeba Records. Meadmore also utilized his drag persona for underground films he was making with director John Aes-Nihil, such as The Drift. He abandoned this persona in his later films, once again playing male roles.

Meadmore developed a "Christian country punk" persona for solo albums he began recording in 1985. According to the University of Illinois at Chicago, he is "...the world's greatest exponent of the genre known as gay Christian punk". He is sometimes referred to as "Cowpunk". His most recent recording, Cowboy Songs For Lil Hustlers was produced by Steve Albini.

Recordings

Albums

• Squaw Bread, Amoeba Records
• Chicken & Biscuits, Amoeba Records
• Boned, Amoeba Records
• Hot, Horny, and Born Again, Pervertidora Records
• Cowboy Songs for Lil Hustlers, Pervertidora Records, 2002

Singles

• "Just a Girl" / "Arco Plaza", 12" single, 1988, Overzealous Editions

Compilations

• The Ma Barker Story Soundtrack & Compilation, 1990
• Keep On The Sunny Side: A Tribute to the Carter Family CD, Amoeba Records, 1993
• Prayer Is The Answer limited edition cassette, Temple Of Be Saint 777, 1998
• God Came Between Us limited edition cassette, Temple Of Be Saint 777, 1999

As PME

• "PME", 7" vinyl EP, Amoeba Records, 1991
• The White To Be Angry CD, Spectra Sonic Records, 1998

Also Appears On

• Helot Revolt, In Your Face, Up Your Butt (guitar), De Stijl Records (1992)
• Songs from Hot, Horny and Born Again are used in the film Hustler White (soundtrack unreleased)

Films

• Americans, by Chris Mullington, 1987
• The Drift, by John Aes-Nihil, 1989
• The Goddess Bunny Channels Shakespeare, by John Aes-Nihil, 1989
• The Ma Barker Story, by John Aes-Nihil, 1990
• Hustler White by Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro, 1996
• The Goddess Bunny, by Nick Bougas, 1998
• The White To be Angry by Vaginal Davis, 1999

Obscenity Trial

Glen was arrested 1989 February 3 in Santa Barbara for obscenity related to a performance at UCSB's Pub as part of UCSB's Gay Awareness Week. He was initially charged with indecent exposure, but this was reduced to Disorderly Conduct pertaining to "Lewd and Dissolute Behavior," according to the newspaper The Independent. His attorney was Public Defender Rick Barron. The case was heard by Municipal Court Judge Frank Ochoa. Glen was found not guilty. This was during the 1980s when many queer performance artists were being tried for their work and having their grants taken away.

Trivia

Glen is 6'8" tall.
Glen has performed and recorded with other artists and performers, including Helot Revolt. Glen's band includes Dave Kendrick a former drummer of Devo.
During the 1980s Glen corresponded with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Gacy did several paintings of Glen, one of which appears on the cover of his album Hot, Horny and Born Again.

Sources

• Ciminelli, David; Knox, Ken (2005) HomoCore: The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Rock, Alyson Books, ISBN 1555838553, ISBN 978-1555838553 [6]
• Young, Paul (2002) L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels, p.130, St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 0312206461, ISBN 978-0312206468 [7]
• Mullen, Brendan (2006) Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell And Jane's Addiction, p.186, (Glen as Performance artist.) Perseus Books Group, ISBN 0306814781, ISBN 978-0306814785 [8]
• The Independent 1989 May 18. Page 7. Article title: "Do the Funky Chicken." (On obscenity charge and trial.)
• Goldberg, Dan, "Performer Arrested in Pub for Overexposure" Daily Nexus 1989 February 6

See also

• list of queercore bands

External links

• Glen Meadmore at Internet Movie Database
• Glen Meadmore on Tribe.net
• Glen Meadmore on Queer Music Heritage
• PME

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Meadmore Glen Meadmore

LGBT