SongVault Artist Profile

My NEW cd HOUSE OF JOY is now available at the above link along with mp3 downloads.

My official website: www.rogeranthonymapes.com

Roger 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.

Currently I have re-joined forces with long time friend, guitarist, writer, singer, and producer Robert Urban:
http://www.roberturban.com

We have finished our new recording project called House of Joy. Mostly a Southern Rock album, with trips into Blues and Country. SongVault Songs "We Are Angels", Ode To Billy Joe", Nice Girl, and "A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry" are from this new project!

I am very proud to have worked ,in 2008, with pedal steel/guitar/dobro/mandolin player and producer Gerald Menke and band Red Hook Junction:

http://www.myspace.com/geraldmenke

The 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.
My collaboration with Gerald created the songs "Love Divine" and "Home" currently on the SongVault permanent playlist in Christian and Folk music.

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.

The POP and JAZZ tracks by Roger are performed by his alter ego YOLANDA and are from his first cd "Welcome To YOLANDA WORLD".

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. 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: www.yolanda.net