I AM NOMINATED FOR A 2009 LA MUSIC AWARD! SEE DETAILS in the "about Roger Anthony Mapes" section of this page!
July 2008: Currently I am in the permanent play list on SongVault.FM with my songs "Love Divine" and "Home" and in the top 40 with songs in pop and jazz. I have many other songs in competition. You may VOTE to get my songs in permanent rotation:
Roger inducted into The BEAR MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2007 while receiving BEST VOCALIST award BEAR MUSIC HALL OF FAME
You cannot restore someone to their Connection with Source by belittling them or by punishing them, or by being disgusted with them. It is only through love that you can return anyone to love. And if you do not have a way of returning them to love, they will always be a problem to your society.
-Abraham/Hicks
I'm thrilled to announce my nomination for the 2009 LA MUSIC AWARDS!
I am nominated in the PRODUCERS CHOICE CATEGORY: CHRISTIAN CONTEMPORARY ARTIST. Nominees in this category are picked by the producers of all of the award show events. Nominees are chosen based on the quality of an artists recorded material submitted for consideration of nomination. The songs I submitted were "WE ARE ANGELS" and "LOVE DIVINE".
I am proud to be an OUT GAY artist nominated in this category! My mission in my music is to build bridges, and I believe that this nomination is a step in the right direction.
I have been offered a spot on the Red Carpet for this event. Red Carpet treatment entails the need for sponsorship. If you are interested in sponsoring me, please contact: rogermapes@yahoo.com. have a look at the LA MUSIC AWARDS below:
As of Feb 2009, I have reunited with my friend, guitarist, writer, and producer Robert Urban
Robert Urban
We'll be collaborating on new songs (some originally written in the YOLANDA days and some just written) and a new live show coming up in Summer 09. The song "We Are Angels" is one of the songs that garnered my LA Music Award nomination. Have a listen and stay tuned, we've got a lot coming up.
I am finished working on my EP with Gerald Menke called "Roger Mapes and Red Hook Junction: Mighty Songs of Joy ". The first single I released "Love Divine" is the other song that attracted the attention of the LA Music Awards producer Al Bowman. "Love Divine" went to 1 on the SongVault Christian music charts for 6 weeks, and is now in permanent rotation on their playlist. go to:
I enjoyed working with pedal steel / guitar / dobro / mandolin player and producer Gerald Menke... Gerald's MYSPACE
The Red Hook Junction band was: Roger Anthony Mapes- vocals/songwriter/acoustic guitar, Gerald Menke- electric guitar/ dobro/ mandolin/ bass/ producer/ engineer, Dan Menke- drums, Genevieve Menke- backing vocals.
The movie "Slingbacks and Syrup" has now been released and my music is all over this wonderfully funny film about the "girls of Beaver Pond, and the boys who play them". In Burlington Vermont , there is a little cadre of drag queens who are shaking up the Northeast with their crazy world they call "Beaver Pond" and "the HOT DAMN TRAILER PARK". I love these guys/gals and their wacky sense of humor. Go to: The House of LeMay ...Purchase the soundtrack "Welcome To YolandaWorld" here on this page at the SoundStation widget.
My Bio .................
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.SEE ROGER"S PAINTINGS
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, The knitting Factory,Webster Hall, and The Limelight nightclubs. From 1997-1999: Roger's music was favorably reviewed in Billboard Magazine 5 times. Larry Flick called him the "...best unsigned artist of 1999".
For more information on YOLANDA go to: The YOLANDA Archives
We are very excited to announce that Slingbacks and Syrup, the new movie about the House of LeMay is an Official Selection of The Vermont International Film Festival! The movie will have its world premiere on October 25 at 9pm as a part of the festival. For more information, check out www. slingbacksandsyrup. com and www. vtiff. org.
THANKS FOR THE COMMENT ! BURLINGTON IS GREAT BUT IS CHANGING EVERYDAY ! SOMETIMES FOR THE BETTER AND SOMETIMES FOR THE WORSE ! JESSI AND I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING OUT AND SEEING ALL THE GIRLS ! MAYBE SOMEDAY WE WILL MEET ! LOVE AND PEACE , BARB
THANKS SO MUCH for the add! It's so wild. I was just talking to someone about you the other day...about how I wasn't sure what you were up to, and low and behold...HERE YOU ARE! Put the energy out and it comes back! BIG HUGS and MUCH LOVE, cRAIG
last week i was taking a walk down memory land and watched a VHS tape of some episodes of someones vermont cable access shows and i didn't even recognize myself (and I not just talking about when I was in drag)
