I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me twenty-seven years to attend my very first drag show. I’d like to blame it on the fact that I was born and raised in Southern Indiana where drag is scarce, but the truth is that I had never made a genuine effort to seek it out.

Two summers ago, I was seated at a picnic table on the back patio of a gay bar in Brooklyn feeling a bit out of place, when Cher bellowed through the speakers and the evening’s first queen came bursting through the doors.

Standing nearly 6’6 in her high heels, she moved in much the same way a cat does in the wild, with a kind of mesmerizing certainty you find yourself envious of. It was in the midst of watching her perform that I realized drag is just as much an art form as it is a means of self-expression.

When you take a moment to truly consider the amount of effort that goes into a single drag performance, it’s staggering.

The drag queen must draw upon a whole host of creative skill sets. She is not only a performer but a make-up artist, a costume designer, an actor and a choreographer.

On this week’s edition of Dreamland, I sit down with Vidalia Anne Gentry.

VAG is a classically-trained violist, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed "Yee-Haw Leftist", HIV/AIDS activist and the heart, soul and beautiful face of Tennessee’s burgeoning drag scene.

Over a bowl of fruity pebbles we talk about her past life as a figure-skater, what got her into drag, what keeps her coming back, the challenges of sudden fame, the correlation between art and shame and her creative process.

Or, if you’re on the go, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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