Roger's song “I Wanna Know” from House of Joy made it to #3 on the "OutVoice" (national GLBT music charts) Top Ten Songs of 2010 and was #1 on the OutVoice singles charts for 3 consecutive months. Currently the song and cd “House of Joy” are both #2 on the charts. Roger's song "Freedom" won a Pride In The Arts Award for best "Camp Pride Song" 2010.
Roger Anthony Mapes: a southern rock,country,gospel,folk singer/songwriter specializing in spreading love and beautiful melodies. Think George Michael, ,Emmy Lou Harris, The Handsome Family, and Elvis in a blender-add a touch of Louise Hay and John Waters and you've got sincerity, inspiration, great vocals, and a twisted sense of humor.
Roger Anthony (Tony) Mapes; singer songwriter, painter, and performance artist was born and raised in Muscle Shoals, Alabama - "The Hit Recording Capital of the World" and the birthplaces of Helen Keller and W.C. Handy. The Muscle Shoals area was populated by an abundance of musicians and visual artists/painters. He began studying music, painting and drawing at a young age with local artists and was encouraged to develop his own unique vision. Roger is influenced by pop, rock, blues, gospel, country, and folk, but doesn’t self-consciously follow any one tradition...combining them all into some hybrid of his own.
From 1997-2005, Roger Anthony Mapes performed as YOLANDA singer/songwriter/gender warrior with his/her band "Yolanda and the Plastic Family". Roger created the character "Yolanda", wrote the music, created the costumes, toured and recorded with his/her band and was the opening act for Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wash. In 2005, Roger as YOLANDA was featured on The Dave Chapelle Show.
YOLANDA's NYC venues included CBGB's, The Cutting Room, Webster Hall, and The Limelight nightclubs.
For more information on YOLANDA go to: www.yolanda.net
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