Mercy Bell Finds Herself in Chicago’s “Leather Daddies”

LGBTQIA+
BIPOC
By
Rachel Cholst
November 2, 2023
Rainbow Rodeo
Interview

Mercy Bell’s got a big voice and a talent for writing arresting ballads. It’s been a while since we heard from her, but she’s certainly been busy — working on a musical about the Chicago leather daddy scene of the 1950s and 1960s, as one does. Bell released the EP Leather Daddies came out on August, with four songs from the musical on it. Leather Daddies is based on the book "Leatherman" by Tracy Baim and Owen Keehnen and details the wild lives and romance of Dom “Etienne” Orejudos and Chuck Renslow, who opened the first leather bar in the US.

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