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Daisy Buckët Does it Again
Daisy Buckët Does it Again
WELCOME TO SPRINGFIELD PAYS TRIBUTE TO A QUEER ICON AND IS WELL-DESERVING OF “BEST NEW LOCAL ALBUM”
By Emily Jacobs
Drag queen Daisy Buckët (aka Spencer Brown) has played a big part in the LGBTQ+ scene in Kansas city for over 15 years, winning “Best Drag Queen” in 2019, 2021, and 2022 in The Pitch—not to mention receiving coverage in national publications such as The New Yorker, Forbes Magazine, and CNN. She’s toured around the country, both solo and with the a capella group known as the Kinsey Sicks, and she appeared on Watch What Happens Live! With Andy Cohen and Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She’s also raised over $100,000 for the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
Daisy Buckët is best known for her insanely beautiful singing voice, and her second album, Welcome to Springfield, just dropped this fall. After setting the bar high with her first album, Pansy, which won “Best New Local Album” in The Pitch in 2018, her newest effort won the same award this year.
“I was so happy,” says Brown. “I was on a work call on Friday afternoon, I got off the call, somebody had texted me, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s today.’ But it’s not just a win for me. It’s a win for all of [the musicians]. They are all really well-known and respected musicians, so I’m happy for them.”
Welcome to Springfield is a tribute to British pop and soul singer Dusty Springfield, consisting of 11 covers of Springfield’s songs, from some of her hit songs like “Spooky” to deeper cuts like “Breakfast in Bed” and ranging from slower songs like “The Look of Love” to faster, upbeat tunes like “Wishin’ and Hopin.’” The sole secondary inspiration to the album that Brown cites is pop singer Ronnie Spector, and Daisy’s spin on the first track of the album, “Stay Awhile,” is a nod to her.
“I can’t compare to her voice,” says Brown. “She had a sort of theatricality and soulfulness to her sound that I think worked well for this album.”
The songs on the album follow a theme of love, heartbreak, and relationships—a theme that Brown himself relates to, and listeners will relate to as well. While Brown discounts his own talents in comparison to Springfield, his warm, soothing voice shines and perfectly complements the record’s soulful instrumentals.
The beginnings of this album go all the way back to when Brown was recording Pansy. While pulling material for that album, Brown came across Springfield’s song, “If You Go Away”—which is on this album. Brown had wanted to do a cover of that song for the first album, but it ultimately didn’t work out. However, Brown kept coming back to that song over the next few years.
Brown started to read more about Springfield and became interested in her as a person after discovering how progressive and outspoken she was for her time— not to mention being queer—with a majority of her career taking place between the 1960s and 1980s. While Springfield never explicitly came out, she was known to cohabitate with female partners over the years and was never known to have a male partner, and she even went on the record to say something along the lines of enjoying the company of women as much as men.
Between enjoying Springfield’s style of music and learning that she was a queer icon, Brown was inspired to record a cover album in honor of her.
“I have heard some people who, when it comes to cover albums, ‘Why would you just record somebody else’s music?’” says Brown. “Well, there’s a lot of people that might not know the music. When there’s a remake of a movie or a revival of a musical—you’re not trying to one-up the person who did it before you. You’re just bringing it back to life and calling attention to it.”
Brown reached out to songwriter/composer/guitarist Jeff Freling, who also worked on the first album, to help arrange the songs and get the record together. The list of songs was initially 17, but Freling helped Brown narrow the list down.
“I like working with artists who are just—they get it. We’re on the same track,” says Brown of working with Freling, to whom he gives immense credit for the album’s success.
Having worked with Freling before and building off of previous experience, Brown had a better idea of what to expect going into this album, and the process moved along more quickly. The album was recorded at Weights and Measures Soundlab, which was a finalist for “Best Music Studio” in The Pitch this year, with recording engineer Duane Trower mixing and mastering the record. They recorded a large portion of the instrumentals and the main vocals in just two days in October 2022, starting around 9 a.m. and working into the afternoon both days.
“Singing before noon was not my favorite thing,” Brown says while laughing.
However, a few months later, they went back into the studio to add some more instrumentals and backing vocals, with the album finally being completed last summer before its release. The tracks feature a variety of instruments and a large lineup of local musicians who are all accomplished in their own right: Ken Lovern on piano, electric piano, and organ; Jeff Harshbarger on bass; Brian Steever on drums; Freling on guitars; Trevor Turla on trombone; Mark Hamblin on trumpet; and James Isaac on tenor and baritone saxophones. Talya Groves provided backing vocals on “Stay Awhile,” “Wishin’ and Hopin,’” and “Son Of A Preacher Man,” with all additional backing vocals being provided by Brown himself.
So, what’s up next for the drag queen and musician? In terms of music, for now, Brown is basking in the success of Daisy Buckët’s Welcome to Springfield, and he intends to put out another album eventually.
Recently, Brown completed his final Hocus Poke Us staged reading after 10 years of a cult-like gathering of fans, friends, and fellow queens. He’s enjoyed doing the readings every year, but he’s hoping that taking a step back from that will open up time to focus on new endeavors.
Most notably, coming up this summer, Brown will co-direct Music Theater Heritage’s production of La Cage aux Folles, a musical that he took part in several years ago. La Cage broke down barriers when it opened on Broadway in 1983 and became known as a “gay anthem,” with it being the first hit Broadway musical to have a gay couple as its central focus.
Despite the setbacks in LGBTQ+ rights in Missouri in recent years, Brown feels good about the climate in Kansas City for queers and drag queens and is optimistic about its future.
Brown performs as Daisy at Enzo Bistro & Wine Bar for Third Sundays at Enzo once a month and at Missie B’s for Music Mondays every week. A full list of Daisy Buckët’s upcoming performances can be found at missdaisybucket.com
