Country roads and disco balls aren’t often mentioned in the same breath, but Ross Alan has found the sweet spot where they collide. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has spent the last few years carving out a sound that’s as emotionally honest as it is irresistibly danceable, blending Midwestern country roots with the liberating pulse of disco. The result is a world filled with rhinestones, vulnerability, and unapologetic queer joy.
Following the momentum of recent singles “Cry Again” and “Loveland,” Alan returns with “Backseat Joyride,” a playful, provocative anthem co-produced by Taylor Morrow. Equal parts flirtation and freedom, the track previews an upcoming full-length album arriving this August and captures an artist who has finally stopped running from every part of himself.
“I wanted to know what a song would sound like if I simply told the truth,” Alan says. That commitment to honesty fuels “Backseat Joyride,” a track inspired by a real-life encounter that celebrates pleasure without apology. Rather than presenting joy as something neat or uncomplicated, Alan embraces its contradictions, reminding listeners that celebration can be messy, sensual, rebellious, and deeply personal all at once.
Photos / Brendan Kimmet
That fearless authenticity extends far beyond a single song. Alan describes his forthcoming album as a celebration of queer existence in all its forms, where every track explores a different expression of liberation. Whether rooted in survival, love, revenge, or pure excess, each song contributes to a larger vision built around community, visibility, and self-acceptance.
Part of what makes Alan’s music so distinctive is his refusal to treat genre as a limitation. Growing up in the Midwest, country music was always present, but for years he resisted embracing it, worried about what it represented. At the same time, life in cities like New York and Chicago introduced him to the vibrant history of disco and its enduring place within queer culture.
Eventually, the answer became obvious.
“Country is who I am,” he explains. “Disco is who I’ve become.”
Instead of choosing between them, Alan created a sound where both can coexist. His music pays tribute to country storytelling while embracing disco’s celebration of freedom, movement, and chosen family. It’s a combination that feels surprisingly natural, creating space for audiences who may have never imagined themselves reflected within traditional country music.
That perspective also shapes his relationship with queer identity. While country music has often struggled with LGBTQ+ representation, Alan refuses to let those limitations define his creative process. Instead, he sees his work as part of a growing movement alongside artists expanding what the genre can become.
“I exist,” he says simply. “I am both of those things.”
That confidence represents perhaps the biggest evolution in Alan’s career. Rather than waiting for talent alone to open doors, he has embraced ambition with the same openness he brings to his songwriting. Hard work, artistic clarity, and a willingness to take up space have become central themes both onstage and off.
With Backseat Joyride leading the way, Alan is inviting listeners into a world where glitter-covered dance floors meet cowboy boots, where vulnerability is celebrated instead of hidden, and where queer joy isn’t treated as resistance alone—but as something worthy of loud, joyful celebration.
As anticipation builds toward his August LP, complete with his first-ever vinyl release, Ross Alan continues to prove that authenticity doesn’t require choosing between identities. Sometimes the most exciting places are found in the spaces where they overlap—and sometimes, they come with rhinestones.
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