August Ponthier on Their Debut Album, ‘Everywhere Isn’t Texas’

It’s early in 2026, but August Ponthier‘s full-length debut album, “Everywhere Isn’t Texas,” should still be remembered 11 or 12 months from now as one of the year’s best fresh starts. There are a number of ways in which the slightly country-tinged pop album does or doesn’t count as a beginning for Ponthier. It’s a coming-of-age record, but, at 29, Ponthier points out that it’s a queer coming-of-age record, reflecting the kind of experience that may come later for those who take some turns before fully finding themselves, as they did.

The “they” pronoun, incidentally, is one of several things that are new for Ponthier, who prior to this released three EPs with a “she” identity and distinctly feminine first name. Only during the mastering part of finishing the album did Ponthier decide to make the leap into coming out as non-binary, partly because of being too proud of the record to release it under a now-dead name that would have compromised the joy of putting out something so satisfyingly self-revelatory. Ponthier already had a lot of notoriety with the previous name — including a Q&A last year in Variety about a then-new single, “Karaoke Queen,” which reflected their experience of being dropped by Interscope in 2024 after three years. But nothing cements going indie like the independence that comes with dropping some baggage of one’s own, as they did in October with the announcement of these personal changes, to the surprise but not chagrin of fans who already knew Ponthier as a maverick spirit as well as gifted singer-songwriter.

Previously, some had referred to Ponthier as being like “a lesbian Sabrina Carpenter.” Do easy tags like that become any more complicated now that they are out as non-binary? It’s possible, but the songs — deeply personal, whether or not they were co-written with craftspeople like Amy Allen and Dan Wilson — should have the boundary-crossing appeal to connect with mainstream pop fans of all stripes. (Or fans of Texas music… Ponthier’s still at least a little bit country, they insist.) Variety caught up with Ponthier again recently, first at friend Brandi Carlile‘s Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival, then by phone from their native Texas, to discuss “Everywhere Isn’t Texas,” an album it’s easy to imagine impacting

Whether in the flesh or on video, people have seen you duet with Brandi Carlile a lot. She has been a real champion of yours, and she sang duets with you when she had you open for her at Red Rocks, and last year and this year at her Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival. So it’s not unusual at this point for you to be on stage with Brandi.

It is unusual! It’s unusual in how I think back to a year that I was really going through a lot of difficult feelings about who I am or what I can do and what’s limiting or not limiting. And every time I would shower, I would sing “The Joke,” because it is a song that hits me the hardest when it comes to wanting to encourage myself. I had never met her before, so after a year of singing that song all the time, when she reached out to me after I got dropped by my major label, I remember my partner was like, “You manifested it by singing the song every day for like a year.” So when I’m up there singing with her, I think about that time. I also think about how when I sing with her, I feel present in a way that I’m not really used to. It is an adrenaline rush to be on stage, but for some reason when I sing with her, I feel completely calm and in my body, and she has that effect on me because I know that she really accepts me. Even though now I know her on more of a personal level, she is a hero, to not just me, but so many people in our community and in in the world. It’s surreal, and it will never get old. I could sing with her a hundred times and I doubt it would ever feel any less crazy.

She learned about you through Elton John, who was already championing you, right?

Yeah, I was playing a show at the Rooftop at P17 (in New York) opening up for the Japanese House, and I had found out the night before that I was getting dropped, which was devastating and my worst fear. I was lying on the floor of the green room being like, “I have no idea how I’m going to do this show.” And I checked my messages and she had messaged me just saying, “Hey, Elton showed me your music. It’s special and I hope to meet you in the future.” And even though she had no idea anything about my life or anything about me being dropped at all, it was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. And ever since then, like when I play Red Rocks, I feel the spirit of a community behind me. It’s a huge honor to be recognized by people who not only make me want to be an artist, but made me wanna keep going and wanna keep being alive and wanna keep feeling like there was hope when it felt like there was almost nothing else.

The song she keeps singing with you most often is “Everywhere Isn’t Texas,” which happens to be the title track of the new album that’s coming out. That one in particular really struck a chord with Brandi, as it does with many people who hear it.

Last year when I was at Girls Just Wanna for the very first time, I had no idea she was going to come watch my set, but I really wanted her to hear that one, so I was over the moon that she just happened to watch the part of my set that “Everywhere Isn’t Texas” was in. And she gave me a standing ovation, which made me want to scream, cry and throw up, all combined. But I think the reason that that song connected with her is because she is an artist that makes protest music; her whole last record is protest music. And I also have that thing where if something resonates with me, I need to talk about it through the actual thing that I make.

That song is about how I grew up in Texas and I felt like I loved it, but it did not love me back. I felt like I was being pushed out, kind of like the way white blood cells will push out an infection, and I didn’t want to feel like I was diseased or wrong or made wrong. And because I can’t stop thinking about home and all the things that happen there, because Texas is a leader in politics, it became the title of the album. It is the most complicated and deep love of my life. And the fact that it resonated with Brandi, and she’s not someone that’s afraid to talk about politics or to stand up for what she believes in, it means a lot that a major artist would be so brave and talk about a state that is really polarizing and sing alongside me.

I was opening up for Maren Morris a year and some change ago. We both went to the same college, at different times, but we’re both from a similar area in Texas. And when when I performed the song on her tour for the first time, she was like, “It takes a lot of guts to sing a song about a state that people love to love and love to hate at the same time.” I weirdly had never even considered that, because I always have just spoken my mind, but it’s not lost on me how grateful I should be and how important it is that other people from Texas or artists that are involved in country music, specifically, can appreciate the song and can discuss things we love in a nuanced way. We can love something and be critical of it at the same time and want better for it. And we are in an era where I think protest music is important, and I hope that a lot more artists would follow suit and make music that doesn’t just allude to the things that they care about, but does specifically talk about the things that keep them up at night and the people that they love.

Let’s talk about your journey and how it did or didn’t coincide with the making of this album. You had previously been very out as lesbian, but in October, you came out as non-binary, with a new first name and identity. How much did that overlap with the final stages of your album?

The music was fully done. The last step was just mastering a few of the songs. So it was all written before I had even really told myself confidently who I was. I mean, this journey started when I was really young, but me being conscious and awake and aware of it, to the point where I was ready to say it out loud or to want to change my name, was this past year. It’s something that, in my mind, I thought I could repress forever, and then all of a sudden I couldn’t do it anymore. It was making me miserable and making me feel so disconnected from myself. I felt like I was aging rapidly in a body and identity that I didn’t understand. And then I just said the truth out loud, and now I feel like there’s a million doors that could open. I feel, like, 20 years younger. Weirdly, I just feel a totally different sense of hope that I didn’t have before. And this album is a series of songs that kind of feel like clues, in order to figure out maybe what was gonna happen with me coming out as non-binary. But also, I’m so proud of these songsthat I couldn’t stand not putting the name that I know now as mine on it. I didn’t want to wake up a year or five years from now and regret not saying that August made that album. So, thankfully, the album was actually a good pressure cooker for being like, “I need to do what is right.” And I’m so glad because now that I’m August, every day is better. Colors are brighter. I am excited when people say my name. I want to introduce myself to people. And that’s just not how I felt before.

You had experienced a lot of acceptance as a very out lesbian singer, but did it feel bolder to go what may be an extra step for people?

I’d come out as a lesbian and I was like, “OK, amazing. I am a pro at this!” But no, it’s totally different. I think gender is something that’s so deeply personal for people and it just hits a completely different nerve … So I would say across the board, for queer people and straight people, the reactions have been varied. Gender is a very personal place that hits people in a different part of their heart. And I’m very lucky that I have an amazing support system. I think if I did this like any sooner, I wouldn’t have been ready for it, which is why it happened when it happened. I think a lot of people don’t fully understand how to talk to me, or people have never heard of a non-binary person before, or people think non-binary people have to be super masculine, or there are signs or qualifications. And I’m happy to share my thoughts when I feel comfortable, like I’m doing right now. But no, it’s been difficult — but 100% worth it. If someone chooses not to see me for who I am, that’s a completely different feeling than if I’m fully repressing myself, because now I can say “Well, you just don’t know me well” or “There’s something wrong with how you treat people,” instead of me saying that there’s something deeply made wrong within me, which I don’t believe anymore.

Some people might have been surprised just because they assume that non-binary equates with butch or something, and that has not been your imagery at all.

There’s like lots of different people who have different genders who realize that non-binary is the right and most true gender for them. I never wanted to feel like I was compensating for being feminine, because there are things about femininity that I appreciate. In the same way, there’s things about masculinity that I really appreciate. There’s no one type of non-binary person. And really, even when people ask me like, “Oh, so you’re, like, outside of gender — you don’t like gender” or something, I’m like, “No, non-binary is my own thing. It’s my own gender that is mine. I love who I am and just because it’s not replicated somewhere else doesn’t mean that it’s not real and what I feel is absolutely me.” I will say there was a period, especially last year at Girls Just Wanna, where I was growing my hair out the longest I could ever grow it out, because I thought I would like it and could get used to it. I was wearing a lot of dresses. … Do I want to cut all my hair off now? No, because the shag is what feels good about me. It’s really about doing what feels right and letting myself be my own North Star, which is a permission that a lot of people are not good at giving themselves. So it has been a personal growth journey in every single area of my life. There’s not one thing it hasn’t touched, because it really just is about believing yourself. It’s very weirdly spiritual in a way that I haven’t exercised in a long time.

I did just take new press images because I did want it to reflect how I feel. I still feel like there’s no one look for non-binary people. But I’m happy that I get to put my best foot forward, which just happens to be in a shoe attached to a suit.

How does it work when you have like a bunch of releases out there under your old name? Are you trying to get those credits changed? And do you object to people using your dead name to refer to your old work?

If people have my records or T-shirts or things like that, I’m OK with them wearing it around. I’m OK with people having things that have my old name on them, because those are things I’m proud of making. But I don’t like it when people use my old name in conversation. It’s just so important to me that people respect the boundary of like, this is my first name, when they’re talking to me or about me. And then also my pronouns are big for me. So I really appreciate when people make the effort to do that because it’s so early for me that it just shows that they really do see me and understand and care no matter what I look like or no matter if they knew me before. I love my name. My dead name — my old name, I call it “redacted” — I’m glad that she carried me up until this point, but it’s kind of only for my memories and my family’s memories, not something that I really wanna carry with me.

I’m so glad that I got to change my name on pretty much everything. The biggest one for me was the Lord Huron song that I’m on (“I Lied”). I didn’t know if it was possible to change my name. And so when I called Ben (Schneider) and I was like, “Hi, I’m changing my name, I’m coming out — what do we think? Is it gonna be really annoying to change this?,” he was so supportive and immediately was like, “I’m on it. I’ll talk to Spotify, Apple Music, everyone, immediately,” and he has been a huge support to me. So that was a dream come true, to know that we could change that. It’s interesting to be a public figure already by the time that I wanted to make those changes. I looked it up, and not a lot of people have made the first-name change mid-career. It was a lot of “Let’s see what we can even do and what’s even possible.” There’s still some platforms and some things that the name hasn’t switched over yet, but honestly, the price of just having people call me by the new name is 100% worth it. But it was kind of uncharted territory.

There’s just so many links to my past already that I don’t want to say that it never happened, because that was my name for a long time. But I think just for public consciousness, it’s important to me that people don’t view me as August-with-an-asterisk. I would say to anybody who’s thinking about it, it is worth it. At the end of the day, people change their names all the time, whether it’s a stage name or a new group or for whatever reason. And there is nothing better than not only being called August, but feeling like August. That not only comes with time, but people saying it a lot and really seeing me.  I used to think, “Oh, well, if 90% of the time people are referring to me incorrectly or don’t understand my whole deal, it’ll never be worth it for that 10%,” but I was completely wrong. The 10% of being affirmed or the 10% people completely getting it up, it is 100% worth it, because it accesses a part of my brain and accesses a part of my joy that I have genuinely never felt before. It’s overwhelming, and it’s just a sense of brightness that I never got to experience socially with anybody.

Do you feel like this album is primarily for the queer community? A lot of the songs are more universal. And probably the dirty secret of most people who are hardcore music fans is that they feel like outsiders, which would make some of these songs speak to them, even if they’re not outsiders in the same way you have been.

Absolutely. Obviously, the queer community is like my heartbeat, but I think a lot of people can relate. I feel like people who are like just simply neurodivergent or feel like they’re wired differently can relate. People who just grew up in a way where it took time and understanding for them to be a part of their own advocacy, standing up for what they want and being their own cheerleader, I think that’s kind of my community. So I really appreciate a fan who it took work for them to stand up and say, “Hi, this is who I am.” I think that through line between all the people I care about is that even though it was hard to get there, they’re so proud and can’t help but be themselves. And that’s the type of person that I want to speak to.

The cowboy and alien imagery has been part of all the projects you’ve put out, not just the new album.

The cowboy side is my Texan side, my side that loves comfort and sameness and community and feeling at home. Then the alien side is me feeling like I didn’t get the rule book that everyone got where everyone kind of understands how things are supposed to be. It’s also the side of me that feels like I crave something else out there that is bigger than what’s around me. Those two sides have always been at war with each other. They’ve also held hands at times, and helped me make a record like this. So it felt right to bring them back.

You deal with an interesting range of subject matter, from family issues to dealing with the desire for fame.

It is a coming-of-age album. I’m obviously not a teenager, but it’s a a queer coming-of-age, which happens later in life. And it’s also me examining how I feel about where I grew up. I want it to be something that can be really fun, and I want it to be something that can be really devastating. I want it to feel like something that’s kind of steeped in the tradition of country music or folk music, but I also want it to feel like something that can be fresh and looking forward.

Genre-wise, people may think country, because of the cowboy gear, and you’re unabashed in your love for the Chicks and things like that. But it’s not a country album. It’s a pretty pop album.

It’s not a full, straight-ahead country album, but I think the storytelling of country music, the instrumentation of country music, and even the singing quality of country music is present on it. I don’t think it would be a fully me debut album if it wasn’t a combination of things. But one day I would love to make a true, straight-ahead country album. But for this, it is that cowboy and alien dichotomy. It is country music and pop music; it’s country and rock.

In the songs “Angry Man” and “Bloodline,” which are probably sequenced back-to-back on the album for a reason, you appear to be alluding to some rough family stuff that you’re wondering whether you have to take forward with you in your life. That’s not the stuff everybody in the world writes about. Was that hard for you to get into that territory?

Yes, I’m very private about my childhood. I’m very private about the struggles that I faced growing up, because it’s from such a deep and painful place that it feels sacred in a way. I also never wanted to feel like I was ungrateful or that it was a betrayal for me to talk about my truth. But, all in all, this has been an album of me telling the truth, even if the truths are complicated and nuanced. And I don’t think I could tell an accurate picture of what it was like growing up in Texas without talking about those things. I’m very aware that the ingredients of who I am as a person make someone that struggles with mental health, and make someone who struggles to feel stable and secure and loved. It’s something I think about all the time, and I pour so much energy into trying to find a new normal. For me to not write about that would be really disingenuous to how much space that’s taken up in my brain over so many years. But yeah, I’m terrified. Those two songs are the scariest things I’ve ever released. And I’m still scared. I mean, even talking about it now, it’s just hard to tell the truth about things, people, places that you really, really love.

On the lighter side, you have the song “Handsome,” which points — humorously — toward your non-binary identity, even though you weren’t there yet when you wrote it. You sing, “Handsome, handsome boy, the world loves you / Don’t know if I wanna be with you or be you.” One verse says, “How are you human? / Painted nails on gentle males / A winning combination / It’s painful and it’s shameful / I’m a poor imitation.” But you’ve said some people misunderstood the song, when you first released it a while ago or were playing it live… they saw it as you possibly really crushing on guys.

Yeah, the people that get it get it, I guess. I think that “Handsome” was me kind of dipping my toe into the water of: Can anyone believe that I have something more complex going on than what they assume or what they see? And when the answer was kind of mixed — a lot of people thought that the song was about something that it wasn’t — I think that it really just illustrated for me that I need to be explicit about my truth and my identity… Songs can change your life, but the way that “Handsome” changed my life was, it put a lot of pieces together for me. And I think that that is more important than approval from other people.

In the spoken bridge, you put some celebrity names in there: “Timothée Chalamet, Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac… There’s a new ‘It-Boy’ in town, and she’s a lesbian!”

I tried a few different ones in different cities. Basically what happened is, I went on tour with an artist named Niki at the end of 2024, and that was when I started performing “Handsome” for the first time. There was a bit of an instrumental section in the song and, live, it was kind of a bit of dead space. So I would just make jokes on stage, and then it turned into this thing where I would just list It-Boys — specifically, It-Boys who partake in pretty feminine fashion… And it just turned into something that I said at every show, and then it turned into something I had to put on the record, because I loved it so much and I thought it was so fun. There’s some serious tear-jerk stuff on the album, but I also think the highs are really high as well. And I wanted a bit of my sense of humor to also be present on the album, because that’s how I got through all of the hard stuff.

Let’s go back to the song “Everywhere Isn’t Texas.” I don’t know if you’re speaking to yourself or actually literally speaking to an audience when you sing, “You don’t have to to stay in Texas.” But at the end it feels like you have a heart for people who are not able to move to New York like you did.

I was definitely speaking to myself when I wrote the song. As time has gone on, I think as artists we have to have some kind of responsibility for putting out songs that advise people what to do or or offer other pathways. My fear with the song was that people would think that I thought that leaving is the one solution that fixes every problem, and that’s not how I feel at all. I think that leaving is something that only a few people can do. I think also leaving is something that has its own pros and cons. Leaving didn’t fix every problem for me. At the time, it was what was right because opportunity arose. And I felt like I needed to distance myself from home for a lot of reasons that didn’t even just have to do with politics or identity. But I think that’s why it’s really important that I put the reprise on the album, because “Everywhere Isn’t Texas” is the first thing that I wrote for this album, and the reprise is the last thing that I wrote. The reprise is about the people that stay and the people that survive, and what makes Texans true Texans. To me, that’s the people that fight through adversity and make it a more diverse and interesting place. I wanted to have both on the album, because I think it would’ve been irresponsible to just say, “If something is hard, leave.” But I think for some people, namely the parents of trans children who can leave, or people who have experienced violence that have the opportunity to leave, I do think that’s a message that they shouldn’t feel ashamed for taking. We all have to make choices about our own safety, and for some people that is appropriate.

I will say this: I’m in Texas right now. I’ve gone back to Texas and I’ve been more involved in Texas than I have ever been able to, and that’s not a coincidence… I have worked for the last two-ish years with an organization called TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas), and they’re constantly at the capitol…

When I’m telling people, “Leave, if that’s what feels safe. And if you stay, I still wanna make it a better place,” I really believe that. Texas is not something that’s in my rear view. It’s actually all I think about, and it’s why the album is about it. It’s why I keep returning and it’s why I keep speaking out politically, even though, to many people, that may not be advantageous to their careers. I care about it really deeply, and I think the album is about holding nuance — two truths — loving something and criticizing it at the same time.