[Cover photo credit to Karen Stackpole]
Veteran music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor has teamed up with Backbeat Books (a division of Rowman & Littlefield) to release She’s a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism and it will arrive on January 16, 2024 in hardcover.
Each of the twenty chapters of the book focuses on a groundbreaking artist as she discusses “feminism and what it means to be a woman in the music business (and in life in general).”
Following the book’s January release, there will be several winter/spring 2024 author events, beginning January 20th in Atlanta before hitting Indianapolis, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with a virtual event also included.
In She’s a Badass, music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor interviews twenty significant women in rock, devoting an entire chapter to each one, taking an in-depth look at the “talent, determination—and, often, humor—they needed to succeed in their careers (and life).”
Interviewees range from established artists through notable up-and-comers, including Suzi Quatro, Ann Wilson (Heart), Exene Cervenka (X), Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s), Lydia Lunch, Suzanne Vega, Cherie Currie (The Runaways), Joan Osborne, Donita Sparks (L7), Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses/The Breeders/Belly), Paula Cole, Tobi Vail (Bikini Kill), Laura Veirs, Catherine Popper, Amanda Palmer, Bonnie Bloomgarden (Death Valley Girls), Orianthi, Fefe Dobson, and Sade Sanchez (L.A. Witch).
The book’s goal is to convey the ways in which “Their experiences reveal the varied and unique challenges these women have faced, how they overcame them, and what they think still needs to be done to continue making progress on the equality front. Their stories prove that promoting feminism—either through activism or by living example—is undeniably badass.”
A very special Afterword is included from Susan Rogers, the longtime in-house recording engineer for Prince.
In-Store Book Events with Katherine Yeske Taylor:
January 20 – Atlanta, Georgia: Charis Books (7:30 p.m. – in conjunction with Y’all Rock Camp Atlanta)
January 26 – Salinas, California: Downtown Book & Sound (virtual appearance @ 6:30 p.m. PST/ 9:30 p.m. EST)
February 20 – Indianapolis, Indiana: Tomorrow Bookstore (time TBD)
March 5 – Princeton, New Jersey: Labyrinth Books “In Discussion” with Tom Beaujour, New York Times bestselling author of Nothin’ But a Good Time (time TBD)
March 21 – Narberth, Pennsylvania: Narberth Books (time TBD)
March 23 – Oldwick, New Jersey: Howling Basset Books (5:00 p.m.)
