A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: Orville Peck is full of apparent contradictions. As a kid growing up in South Africa, he went from dancing ballet to playing drums in a punk band. He loves musical theater but made a name for himself as a country singer. A lot of his songs are about vulnerability but he covers his face with a mask.

These contradictions are all part of the Peck mystery. He keeps a lot of his life under wraps — even his real name (which is not Orville Peck). Perhaps this is why his voice feels so singular to me. It is so beautiful and full of longing, and it’s all the more powerful because I don’t have the full context of the artist himself. But I don’t need to know Orville Peck’s real name or what his cheekbones look like because his entire soul comes out through his music.

Orville Peck is currently making an exception to the mask, baring his face and his musical soul on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret.