Photography by JUCO | Retouching by Anna Glen at Wet Noodle
The Moment: 1944: Beatniks Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Edie Parker, and Joan Vollmer meet.
The bohemian ideals of the 1950s Beat generation are alive and well in Hurray for the Riff Raff, led by queer frontwoman Alynda Lee Segarra. "My sexual identity is who I am," says Segarra (far left), who spent her late teens freight-hopping across the country before putting down roots in New Orleans. "Beatniks were true to that: Sexual identity could be artistic and really powerful." This year, the Bronx-born, Puerto Rican singer-guitarist toured the country with her bandmates -- trans fiddler Yosi Perlstein (far right), bassist Callie Millington (second from right), and drummer David Jamison (second from left) -- to promote Hurray's acclaimed new album, Small Town Heroes. "We're breaking the barrier for queer people in folk and country music," Jamison says, "and working toward a time when we don't have to think of queer people as activists -- when ideas of queerness are a given."
Photographed at the Rusty Knot bar, New York on July 31, 2014
Styling by Michael Cook. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo. Turtleneck by Tom Ford (Segarra). Sweater by Bottega Veneta. Shirt by Original Penguin. Jacket by Marc Jacobs (Jamison). Shirt by Topman. Jacket by Levi's (Perlstein)
