The fourth-grade class was ready and waiting as Minton tied her kerchief, slung her Sears and Robuck guitar over her shoulder, and stepped into the cleared space between the desks. It was 1979, she was eight years old. She had just had a long conversation with her teacher in the hallway about her proposed plan. And thank goodness her teacher was convinced; the plan must take place.

It was Elvis Presley’s birthday, and this tribute to the King of Rock and Roll was Minton’s first gig.

As she belted out the first lines of the song, “Follow that dream, I gotta follow that dream,” she didn’t yet realize how the sentiment would shape her life; music is the dream Minton has been following ever since.

Born and raised in the beautiful farm country of Wilmington Ohio, Minton started singing along to the car radio with her mom as a young girl, and, in the second grade, began a covert plan to become a multi-instrumentalist, stealing time with her mom’s guitar.

“I would sneak into her closet, pull out the guitar, and play it in my bedroom. Placing it back strategically the way she had it in her closet.”

Her mom eventually caught on, but instead of punishing her for the undercover jam sessions, she arranged for Minton to start guitar lessons with a talented woman from church at five dollars a lesson.

Performing in front of people came naturally to Minton but, though gregarious on stage, she experienced a long period of social isolation during her young teenage to adulthood that drew her even further into music, seeking the connection it could provide a lonely young, gay woman still trying to find her tribe.

“I was sixteen years old, driving home from work, and realized that I had a huge crush on a girlfriend, and I was gay. From a very early young age, I felt like music was the only aspect of my life where I could actually connect with people and be seen. I also had a secret that I was afraid to share with anyone as fear of not being loved. It was 1987, and let’s face it, coming out during that time only got you a ticket straight to conversion therapy. To pray the gay away.”

“I didn't come out until I was thirty-six, so I felt alone the majority of my adult life. Music was the best friend that I ever had. It could get me through the pain and the loneliness. It also connected me to God because in my heart of hearts, I knew he loved me.”

Discovering Amy Grant’s music at age fifteen was a salvation for an isolated teenager and also the inspiration to seriously pursue music herself.

Minton had grown up listening mainly to Christian music, but Grant’s music was like no Christian music she had ever experienced before.

“It was 1985, and she was doing the Unguarded tour. I begged my mom to take my sister and me to the Ohio State Fair in Columbus. My mom was also a huge Amy fan and turned me on to Amy back in the seventh grade. During that show, Amy had a full band and was running all over the stage. I thought Christian music could never ever be that way, that it was churchier, not this cool. But when I saw her, it was like this boundless rebellion.”

Grant’s music became a companion for Minton at a lonely time in her life. 

“There were moments I'd just be bawling my eyes out because it felt like her music was the only thing that I connected with that made me feel like I was human.”

Seeing how Amy Grant didn’t fit in the Christian music box allowed Minton to imagine a life in music lived outside the box as well, personally and musically.

Now, as a fifty-three-year-old out and proud gay woman, Minton wants her music to remind people that age and sexuality aren’t limiting factors. To not let anything stop you from pursuing what makes you happy, no matter what your dream.

“I want to inspire people to be their best selves, to go after their dreams and not give up. To not let society make them feel like they're less than.”

Minton had almost moved to Nashville after high school, but in the late 80’s Music City USA wasn’t particularly accepting of gay musicians, and, afraid of facing rejection by the conservative country music scene, she joined the Air Force instead to help pay for college.  While in the Air Force, she was selected to sing the national anthem at her boot camp graduation ceremony.

“Someone in the flight, let it out of the bag, that I often sang in the shower. It was the only time that we shared that we could all feel human and not robotic or “in line". Here all of us are, naked as jailbirds, singing our favorite tunes together to connect us and to help those that were pretty shy as well to join in singing. Let’s be honest, at 19, I (and everyone else) was pretty shy, had never stripped down in front of anyone, let alone other women, and my natural instinct was to sing.”

Now, with country artists like Chely Wright, Shane McAnally, Ty Herndon, and Brandy Clark blazing the trail for gay artists in country music, Minton feels ready to make the home of country music her home too.

She hopes her long-awaited move to Nashville and immersion in the community she loves so much, will act as a reminder to others that it’s never too late to make changes in your life.

“We're all in charge of our own happiness. I think everybody is capable of doing whatever they want to truly do. Nothing is off the table. Anything's possible. Age is just a number, and I’m ready to leap into the next chapter of my life. They say that whatever you wanted to do by the age of seven is actually your calling.”

Processing her first heartbreak inspired her first foray into songwriting in second grade, and a desire to help others feel seen and find the confidence to pursue their own creative dreams is the reason she creates music now, decades later.

Her forthcoming album uses a traditional country sound to deliver a modern message, one of acceptance, equality, and unyielding strength in the face of challenges.

A thoughtful approach to the production keeps the songs at the core of the project, using classic, subtle instrumentation, to best support the delivery of the words.

With a new album coming soon and her long-awaited move to Nashville finally here Minton is continuing to follow that dream, one she hopes will lead all the way to the sacred circle of The Grand Ole Opry.

Written by Vanessa McGowan