Rev. Roger Anthony YOLANDA Mapes - you can call me RoYo!
Rev. Roger Anthony Yolanda Mapes is a singer/songwriter/drag performer and Interfaith Minister who's work as an Artist and Sacred Activist has earned him a place in
The GLBT Hall Of Fame. He has been called:
" The Alien Love Child of Louise Hay and John Waters,
with a splash of........
Dolly Parton ! "
Rev. RoYo is an eccentric, and ecstatic performer with a southern rock, country gospel style. He brings his message of Non Duality into every event by merging GLBT and Mainstream Popular Culture with Integrated Spirituality. With a soulful voice, a message of oneness, great costumes, and a wicked sense of humor, his shows and CDs emphasize love, beautiful melodies, interesting stories, and a bit of inspiration.
Rev. Roger Anthony Yolanda Mapes
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 is populated by an abundance of musicians and visual artists/painters. RoYo began studying music, painting and drawing at a young age with local artists and was encouraged to develop his own unique vision, which combines GLBT culture, drag performance, personal spirituality, and a love for Old Time Gospel Music. RoYo 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.
Rev. RoYo is also a fine artist, who paints abstract expressionist paintings. RoYo's paintings on canvas and clothing are in private collections all over the world. You can visit RoYo's art gallery here and commission him for your art project.
RoYo's LATEST CD RELEASE as of March 2011:
a GLBT Spiritual compilation produced by Shawn Thomas
RoYo's 2010 cd HOUSE OF JOY received accolades from
Pride In The Arts and OutVoice
Pride In The Arts Best Producer: Robert Urban
Pride In The Arts Best Camp Pride Song: FREEDOM
OutVoice #1 CD for Jan 2011: House of Joy
OutVoice #3 Song of 2010: I Wanna Know
The current project in production is called "The Yolanda Old Time Gospel Hour" and is a re-invention of the country gospel music genre. Taking traditional sounding melodies and instrumentation, RoYo is creating new gospel songs with New Thought lyrics that affirm the God/Goddess within. in each one of us. "The Yolanda Old Time Gospel Hour" will be released in late 2011. Stay tuned for progress reports.
