Imagine being 16 and confused about your sexuality. Turn on the TV or go to the movies, and you’re bombarded with negative gay stereotypes. Turn on the radio, and you get at most a carefully coded or gender-unspecified celebration of love—that is, when you don’t hear Dire Straits singing on the classic-rock station about “the little faggot with his own jet airplane.” Pop culture makes most people feel some tenuous connection to shared experience. It only makes you feel more and more alone.

If that were the case, Pansy Division would probably strike you as the most wonderful band you’d ever heard. Pioneers since 1991 of the small but powerful movement known as “queercore,” the San Francisco power trio of Chris Freeman (bass), Jon Ginoli (guitar) and Dustin Donaldson (drums) plays cheerfully catchy punk-pop anthems that are as mosh-friendly and bouncy as they are defiantly, explicitly, unapologetically in-your-face gay.

With titles like “Dick of Death,” “Vanilla” and “Horny in the Morning” (“Woke up with a morning woody/But no one’s here to share the goodies”), their fourth LP, Wish I’d Taken Pictures, has the good-natured, bratty raunchiness you associate with the Dead Milkmen or the early Replacements. But the band’s chipper celebration of safe gay sex and romance—and its encouragement of political and social activism—is backed by a commitment that keeps the group from becoming a novelty act. After winning over thousands of skeptical listeners as Green Day’s opening act last year, Pansy Division has not only become a role model for gay teens but has won a number of straight fans—without toning down its edge, its attitude, or its rude sense of humor.

Pansy Division returns to Lucy’s Record Shop this Saturday for an all-ages show that should be a lot of fun. Joining the band is Supernova, the Amphetamine Reptile/Atlantic recording artists who hail from the planet Cynot 3, where tinfoil is the most valuable currency extant. (The group’s one nonnegotiable contract rider demands a roll of Reynolds Wrap in tribute money.) Showtime is at 8 p.m.; get there late and you might miss Supernova’s ode to the geekiest candy around, “Mentos.” The opening act is O-Matic.

When Lari White moved to Nashville, she couldn’t afford to join the local YMCA. Rather than turn someone away, though, the organization helped her out by awarding her a scholarship, which paid for her membership during some lean times.

White can pay for her own membership now. Her well-received new album on RCA Records, Don’t Fence Me In, debuted last week at #53 on the Billboard country chart, and the first single, “Ready, Willing and Able,” is already Top 40 with a bullet. But White has decided to give the YMCA an extra return on its early investment in her future.

On March 20, White will perform a special concert at the Ryman. All proceeds will benefit the Y’s “We Build People” scholarship program, which funds community outreach efforts ranging from preschool childcare to memberships for inner-city teens. Tickets are $17.50 and $22 at TicketMaster outlets, and a special $250 VIP package includes a reception with the artist and other goodies. It’ll be a good show for a good cause. For more information, call 259-9622.

Nashville singer-songwriter Doug Hoekstra’s former band, Bucket No. 6, has a track on Outstandingly Ignited, the latest collection of songs celebrating the poems of the late Ernest Noyes Brookings. An elderly resident of the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Duplex Nursing Home, Brookings inspired three previous volumes of songs featuring his plainspoken yet surreal verse, and his musings were a consistent highlight of the famed Duplex Planet newsletter. The current disc includes not only Hoekstra’s group but also Morphine, Madder Rose, the Amazing Delores, the Ben Vaughn Combo and others.

“The lyrics are so goofy, it’s a major challenge to put them to music,” says Hoekstra, who chose Brookings’ paean to the great state of Indiana. (Sample lyric: “Indiana has large industrial areas/Its capitol is a large city named Indianapolis.”) Nevertheless, Hoekstra admits, the words were so strange that he found he could remember them better than his own lyrics. After he added a chorus, the song was recorded in Chicago by producer Brad Wood, best known for his work with Liz Phair. If you’re at all curious, look for Outstandingly Ignited at Lucy’s Record Shop.

Tuesday, Feb. 13—the day before he picked up a Nashville Music Award for best bassist—Flecktone Victor Wooten released his first solo jazz LP on Compass Records. Entitled A Show of Hands, the album includes several original jazz, funk and blues compositions, as well as a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” and a medley of “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “A Night in Tunisia” and “Misty.” Appearing on the record are Late Show bassist Will Lee, the Wooten Brothers, and even Wooten’s mother and father. Check the jazz or local bins in local record stores.

Elliptical dispatches: After performing with Whitney Houston and Shirley Caesar last Wednesday night in Los Angeles on the 38th Annual Grammy Awards telecast, CeCe Winans is now in New York, handling a starring role in the world premiere of the new musical Born to Sing. The musical, which also stars Caesar and Houston’s protege Shanna from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, is a sequel to the blockbuster touring production Mama, I Want to Sing. It continues through March 10 at the Paramount Theater in Madison Square Garden. As if the year could get any better for the R&B/gospel superstar, Winans is up for six Dove Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year; her solo LP Alone in His Presence is a strong contender for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. Expect to see Winans at the podium April 25, when the Dove Awards show is telecast....

Five writers who have penned major hits for Garth Brooks—Pat Alger (“The Thunder Rolls”), Tony Arata (“The Dance”), Kent Blazy (“If Tomorrow Never Comes”), Stephanie Davis (“We Shall Be Free”), and Victoria Shaw (“The River”)—join forces Monday night at Wolfy’s on Lower Broad in a benefit for United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee. Billed as a Songwriters’ Tribute to Garth Brooks, the show should feature the Brooks hits mentioned above and many more. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door; call 251-1621 for more information....

Only three months into 1996, we already have a strong contender for album title of the year, from the artist known as Geronimo: My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys. The record was primarily recorded in Nashville by singer/songwriter Geronimo Trevino III, a veteran Texas honky-tonker from San Antonio, using such superb players as Vassar Clements, Roy Huskey Jr., Spooner Oldham, Buddy Emmons, Flying Burrito Brother Chris Ethridge and drummer Boo Boo McAfee. Producer and co-writer on several tracks was legendary songwriter Hank Cochran (“She’s Got You,” “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me”); other co-writers include Mack Vickery of “Meat Man” renown. Geronimo performs a record-release party with Clements at the Exit/In this week; call 386-0195 for more information, or write Geronimo at P.O. Box 203, Geronimo, TX 78115....

T.J. Baden of Taylor Guitars presented a check for $10,000 last Friday to the Leukemia Society of America in the memory of Richard Cotten, founder of Cotten Music in Hillsboro Village, who died in July after an extended illness. The money came from sales of a special limited-edition guitar, the 612 Cotten, christened in memory of the late jazz guitarist and music-store owner. Baden presented the check at a reception in the BMI Building honoring Cotten; the featured entertainment included jazz musicians Beegie Adair, Jim Ferguson, Bob Mater, Mel Deal and John Knowles....

Listen for the new Thunderground Radio/New Music City show Sunday nights on Thunder 94. Hosted by Jason Moon, the first half of the show features largely unaired music from across the country, including bands like The Sea and Cake, Mercury Rev, the Grifters, and Freakwater; the second half, God bless ’em, is devoted to local “underground” music. Among the guests so far: Stone Deep, Joe, Marc’s Brother, and the nifty Murfreesboro band Fluid Oz. Tune in from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday nights....

In a bold move for an artist best known as a vocalist, Steve Wariner will soon release an instrumental album, No More Mr. Nice Guy. Designed to show off Wariner’s often overlooked prowess as a guitarist, the Arista LP features duets with an eclectic lineup of guests, including Vince Gill, Lee Roy Parnell, Chet Atkins, Larry Carlton, Bela Fleck, Leo Kottke and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, among others. Check local stores March 12....

J.T. Blanton, honky-tonker and mural painter, will record a live album for self-release on March 11 and 18 at the Stockyard’s Bullpen with his band Things That Go Twang in the Night. We asked his publicist what the record will be called. “J.T. Blanton Live at the Bullpen,” she responded. We like it! The record should be out by late April. Show time is 8:30 p.m. both nights, and admission is $4....