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