Man on a Mission

Drake Jensen Beats Down Bullies Through Music

By Fred Pollard

drakejensen_image_may13April 15 was a strange day. Taxes were due. Naughty girl Samantha Fox turned 47. Bombs shattered the Boston Marathon. And country singer Drake Jensen spent part of his 43rd birthday chatting with me about bullies, Obama, our careers, and the success of his new CD, OUTlaw.

“It’s been a crazy four months,” the Canadian country crooner told me. “We put in a lot of work, and it has been amazing this time around. This CD is selling so much better than the last one; we have already sold 10 times as many of OUTlaw. I am shocked at how they are selling worldwide – in places like Japan, Australia, Norway, and Germany. And we are starting to get requests for events in the U.S. We will be in the states for a full month in September.

“I am so grateful.”

In some ways, this is a different Drake from the one I first interviewed a couple of months ago. This one is still passionate, but seems a little less…angry.

“When you start tasting success, you have people coming at you from all sides,” he said. “I was getting a lot of negative stuff thrown at me. I started thinking, ‘well this feels like it did when I was 14 and was being bullied every day.’”

We talked about the challenges of a bad childhood and man’s inhumanity to man. Following that train of thought, I asked him his thoughts on the tragedy in Boston and how his new song I Don’t Want to Know related so well to the day’s events, then only a few hours old.

“My songwriting partner and I had a Skype-writing session,” he said. “I wanted to write about the news, and I found myself disillusioned and wanting to focus on positive things. Larry is an intense songwriter. The song sits in a very good place; it has such a statement. They say you get more of what you focus on. These days, I am trying to manifest more of the positive.”

Drake’s fierce battle for the underdog remains intact, however. Quickly becoming as well-known for his stance against bullying and abuse as he is for his music, he makes a clear distinction between the quest for peace and serenity and the dangers of complacency.

Unhappy with the amount of discrimination he still sees in the U.S. and the struggles of young LGBT people, Jensen is an advocate of resources such as www.bullying.org, featured at the beginning of his video for On My Way to Finding You (click here to see the video).

“I am someone who lived through and was really damaged by bullying and abuse,” he said. “I just felt that now was the time to take a stand. It took me a long time to work through my own issues, and I don’t think I had the capacity to do this when I was in my 30s. I have learned that what I went through as a kid was only preparing me for what I have ahead of me, and in this business, you need to have skin as tough as leather.

“I get emails from all around the world. One man sent me a note that said, ‘Tonight, I didn’t kill myself because your words spoke to me.’ It is time for (positivity), and it is time for us to stand up and say ‘I can do anything.’ One of the biggest plagues affecting us is self-hate and self-loathing. Everyone that has been put on this earth deserves to be here, and if you don’t love yourself, how can you love someone else?”

The scars of Drake’s childhood are impossible to discern from his music career; the two are woven together like the braids of a lasso. Nowhere is the pain and determination as fresh as it is on the appropriately titled OUTlaw track,Scars.

Oddly enough, the track was not even written by Jensen.

“That is one of the stellar songs on the album,” he said. “It was written by someone special specifically for me. It is my story. I imbedded myself into that song.”

“I think the word ‘assault’ is more accurate than bullying. What was done to me growing up is something you would get arrested for now. If we want things to change, we have to start looking at it like that; we have to stop taking it lightly. You know, you go through it, and the physical scars go away. But there are also the scars you cannot see, and those stay the longest.”

For a moment, he grows quiet.

“That song is very special to me.”

Listen to an acoustic version of Scars here.

Drake is embarking on a career in country music at the age when many stars are coming down from their wild ride, opening up restaurants and seeing their music disappearing from the charts. But then, fueled by everyone around him who said, “But you can’t do that,” nothing about his career fits the norm.

“Being here today almost feels like being a part of Stonewall,” he said. “This is a wonderful time to be a part of.”

Last year, Jensen made Andy Towle’s list of the top 50 influential people to come out in 2012. Bucking like a bull in a china shop against stereotypes, the singer has ruffled a few feathers… and discovered he doesn’t mind that one bit.

drakejensen_purple_may13“This was not a publicity stunt,” Drake told me over the phone while relaxing after a trek in the woods near his home. “I could easily have just stayed in the closet. This was more about me being comfortable and being myself during interviews and when talking about my husband, the way Tim McGraw talks about Faith Hill.”

At home in dusty boots and a cowboy hat and tooling around back roads in a pickup, Jensen by appearance fits perfectly on any country station. His debut album, On My Way to Finding You, was released in May of 2011, with the first single Wash Me Away receiving widespread attention on Canadian radio.

“I want to be looked at as proof that not only can you come out and do whatever you want, but you can do it at the age of 43,” he said. “In fact, I think in some ways, the fact I have been able to achieve this during middle age is more interesting than the ‘gay’ thing.

“What I thought was my midlife crisis has turned into an amazing journey.”

While his first release screamed, “I’m here, havin’ a beer, get used to it!”, OUTlaw addresses many issues close to the singer/songwriter’s heart such as unity, discrimination, love, and the power of positive thinking.

“At 43, I am not looking to be number one on Billboard,” he said. “I am going down my own path. If that is where it leads, then fine. But what is important is what I like and what my fans like.”

Check out the first single from the new release, When It Hurts Like That, here!

A shining example of that corporate rebellion rears its noisy head close to the end of the new CD, when Drake suddenly throws out the preaching for a silly ditty that plants itself into your head on first listen and refuses to let go.

“The critics hate Midnight Forest Cricket Chorus,” he said, and I could almost hear a mischievous smile creep into his voice. “Even my producer, when I took the song to him, said, ‘Really?’ But the fans love it. It is the number one fan favorite by far, and that is what really matters to me…what the fans think.”

As one of the only openly gay country singers in the business (and the first to celebrate his orientation in his videos), Drake recognizes the responsibility that comes with the territory.

drakejensen_threecds_may13“In 40 or 50 years, people will be talking about me, and I want to leave a positive legacy,” he said. “I tell people I am not a star. Stars are way above everyone, and I am right here with you. In the face of adversity, people come together, and that is what we are. Together.”

Jensen currently lives in Ottawa with his husband of five years. Upcoming plans include an American tour this fall, and videos for Fast Enough For Me and Scars are scheduled to be filmed later this month.

He also will be performing at Nashville Pride on June 13, 2013.

“This has been one hell of a ride,” he said, giving me one last endearing and hearty laugh. “I am thankful every day that I started this journey, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

“If you dwell on something long enough, you will attract it, so when you get up every morning, be a service to something. If you do that, everything falls into place and the right people will come into your life.”

“I want my own space and I want to dance in my own place. I just take a deep breath and see what the day brings.”

To learn more about Drake and check out his music and his message, visit www.drakejensen.ca.

“LIKE” Drake Jensen on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/drakejensenmusic

Written by Fred Pollard

Fred Pollard

Fred Pollard is a writer and editor for The Telegraph, a newspaper in the St. Louis area. In addition to the variety of human interest, business, and entertainment stories he writes for the paper, he maintains his own pop culture blog, Freditorials. Fred also is in the process of writing two books, one about Charles Manson’s Family and the other about Paul Lynde.

Author’s Website

Follow this author on Twitter

 

(Originally published in HIM Magazine)

HIM_banner480x80

One thought on “Man on a Mission

  1. WOW…why haven’t I heard of this guy? GREAT music, and much carries a great message. Looking forward to tracking down his CD’s.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *