In "Hey Jesus," one of the tracks on his solo album "Love Is Love," Trey Pearson sings plaintively to the Lord. "It's been awhile since I came out," he sings. "Do you love me the same? I just wanna be loved for who I am."
For nearly two decades, Pearson was the frontman for Everyday Sunday, a top-selling Christian rock band. His song "Wake Up! Wake Up!" was the most-played Christian rock song of 2007, and his 2009 album "Best Night of Our Lives" made Billboard's coveted Top 200 chart. Today Pearson lives a very different life. His coming out made national news, drawing support in some circles and disdain in others.
"Everyday Sunday is done," Pearson told the B.A.R. "Everyday Sunday was my baby that I started when I was turning 16 years old, so I always had different people tour with me over the years. A lot of the guys from the earlier years have been extremely loving and supportive, and I'm still close to quite a few of them. Some haven't been as kind, or just haven't talked to me."
He addressed his feelings and longings about coming out in the song "Hey Jesus." "'Hey Jesus' encompasses all of the emotions that I felt leading up to coming out," he said. "I think so many people within the LGBTQ community have felt these emotions when they came up in the Church. I don't believe that I'm unloved anymore, but that song came to me in less than a half-hour in my living room, and then I spent hours crying on the floor, because I had felt those things for so long."
Pearson directly addresses those who don't support him. In the song "Don't Dance," he defiantly sings, "If you think I'm going to hell, then don't dance to my music."
With "Love Is Love," Pearson officially walks away from the concept of Christian music, though he remains steadfast in his faith. "I think Christian music is too much a subculture designed to make money off people's beliefs," he said. "It is part of a larger problem of fundamentalist Christianity controlling people, and leads to a lot of inauthenticity. I'm just excited to share my art, and I have a lot to say. I've tapped into a creative part of myself that I never had been able to before, and I'm excited to share it."
A number of the songs on the album, such as "The Good Grief" and the title track, have a melancholy feel as they deal with the emotions of loss and of yearning to be oneself. Pearson said he was speaking directly from his heart.
"There are a few songs on 'Love Is Love' that I bawled my eyes out as I wrote them," he said. "I think a big thing for me in coming out has been to celebrate the freedom, joy, and peace that I've found, but also to allow myself to grieve for people I lost in the process, and to grieve for things I missed out on in not accepting myself earlier."
Pearson hopes his message will reach others struggling with coming out. He offers a simple explanation as to the album's title. "'Love Is Love' has become a mantra in the LGBTQ community that stands for the right to love and be loved fully. This gay love song, and this album, represent that freedom for me."
treypearson.com