Justin Hiltner is a queer banjo player, songwriter, journalist, and activist living here in Nashville. We talk about how his faith has been tested throughout his life so far, from coming out to his conservative evangelical family in rural Ohio to his fight against cancer more recently. His journey toward healing has been one of an evolving worldview starting with accepting those who have not accepted him along the way, and gradually learning how to accept himself.
Despite these hardships, Justin is flourishing as a bluegrass musician here in Middle Tennessee. He writes for theBluegrass Situation, an online publication covering bluegrass, roots music. Justin's also the Chair of the Board for Bluegrass Pride, an organization that promotes inclusion in bluegrass music. And he's the first openly gay man to receive a nomination from the International Bluegrass Music Association. And if that weren't enough, Justin's working on his debut solo record set to come out in 2021.
For Reflection:Consider a time when someone has made a judgment about you. How did you respond to it in the moment, and have you been able to rise above it? How do you make sense of suffering you've experienced in your own life? What coping mechanisms do you have for moving on?
Resources: We played “If I Were a Praying Man” during one of the breaks and “What I Miss the Most” as we closed the show. Both tracks are off of the album “Watch it Burn” by Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger which you can find on Apple Music and Spotify.
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