I GOT THUNDER
Black Women Songwriters On Their Craft
(Thunder's Mouth Press/Da Capo Press, New York, Oct. 2007)
Edited by LaShonda Katrice Barnett
ISBN 10: 1568583311
ISBN 13: 9781568583310
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| Click to hear LaShonda's in-studio interview with host Sandip Roy of "Up Front" on San Francisco's KALW. |
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| Black Women Talk Songwriting, Click for LaShonda's conversation with Farai Chideya, host of "News & Notes." |
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| Click to hear LaShonda's in-studio interview with special guest singer/songwriter Brenda Russell and host John Schaefer, of "Soundcheck." |
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| Click here for article by Reyhan Harmanci in the San Francisco Chronicle (01/31/08).
Click here for review by Denise Sullivan in Harp Magazine (Jan./Feb. 08)
Click here for review by author Valerie Boyd in Paste Magazine (Dec. 07/Jan. 08).
Click here for review by Justin Strout in Orlando Weekly (12/07/07).
Click here for review by Keidra Chaney in Alarm Magazine (Fall 2007 Issue#28).
Click here for review by Darcelle Bleau in the Baltimore City Paper (11/21/07).
Write-ups for I Got Thunder have also appeared in: the Chicago Sun Times, East Bay Express, the Richmond Style Weekly, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, the New York Post, No Depression Magazine, and numerous blogs.
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| Click for LaShonda's conversation with Pam Gibson, host of ABC Radio Network's "The Touch." |
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From the publisher:
In this often-fascinating, nostalgic, and thoroughly moving collection
of interviews, author LaShonda K. Barnett offers a rare glimpse into the
careers of the world's prominent black women performing singer-songwriters. Making an unprecedented exploration of their musical
styles and careers, I Got Thunder represents practically all genres --
folk, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, and traditional blues
genres. The interviews place the remarkable contribution of these women
within the greater contexts of both American and global music culture.
Thoughtful and revealing, Barnett exposes how these artists made their
mark in the music industry. Featuring interviews with leading black female performing songwriters--including Abbey Lincoln, Brenda Russell, Chaka
Kahn, Dianne Reeves, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Nona Hendryx, Odetta, Shemekia Copeland, Shirley Caesar, Toshi Reagon, and others--Barnett provides a unique window
into these captivating lives.
"Barnett interviewed 20 preeminent black femal performance artists for this original compilation. She opens each interviw with a biographical account followed by a selected discography. Coming from a variety of genres, music greats such as Miriam Makeba, the late Nina Simone, and the "First Lady of Gospel," Shirley Caesar, tell their own stories in their own words. The interviews blossom into insightful conversations about the artist's life, the impact of her art, and social commentary. Invariably, the interviewees offer pearls of wisdom, e.g., Caesar's sage counsel to not "expect things to happen for your overnight. It's better if you pay some dues." Simone offers, "If you have knowledge of what came before you, who walked before you, then you know who you are and what you can achieve. Barnett's book is essential for specialized music and African American collections as well as school and public libraries." Vanessa J. Morris -Library Journal
"Barnett, a professor of Africana Studies at Sarah Lawrence College,
transcribes lively interviews she's conducted
with 20 black women songwriters as iconic as Nina Simone (before her
death in 2003) and as hip as Tokunbo Akinro of the European band Tok
Tok Tok. Barnett aims at revealing the sources of their songwriting
inspiration, as Abbey Lincoln opines divinely: “I learned early on that
this work is not about me. I am inspired by a holy muse and my
ancestors.” Many of the women used singing and performing as a means of
expressing conflicting identities, such as Chaka Khan, whose initial
work with Rufus explored black pride, sexual liberation and second-wave
feminism. Dianne Reeves is inspired to write songs by reading great
books by black women; Dionne Warwick has lived in Brazil for years
because in America “the elements of respect and caring and loving are
so far removed from a lot of the music we are surrounded with today”;
and gospel legend Shirley Caesar is also a pastor of a church in
Raleigh, N.C. Joan Armatrading, Toshi Reagon, Miriam Makeba, Narissa
Bond and Nona Hendryx, among international greats, speak beautifully
about their complex musical makeup, beautifully encapsulated in this
mightily useful volume." -Publishers Weekly
"We love to hear and see women play the melodies in our hearts and sing to the passions that we feel, but too often when the stage lights go down and the mic stand is put away, we have little concern for those women. As such LaShonda Katrice Barnett's I Got Thunder is a breathtaking journey into the lives of the women who make the music and gives us an even greater appreciation for the music that is in their souls."
-Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies, Duke University
and author, Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture and Soul Babies
"Capturing the expressive range of black female songwriters' voices, intentions, passions and performances, Barnett's I Got Thunder offers rich oral testimonies on race, gender, sexuality, spirituality and the very souls of black folks from Africa to America--this time from a woman's point of view. Invaluable, insightful, truthful, this book is an indispensible tool revealing creative processes of black singing and songwriting that defy gender and generation. An inspiration for anyone interested in the workings of or workin' in the human spirit."
- Kyra D. Gaunt, associate professor of music and anthropology, City University of New York-Baruch, and author,The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop
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| If you enjoy I GOT THUNDER, watch for the companion volume Let Them Resound: Black Women Singer-Songwriters On Songwriting (forthcoming, 2008), including conversations with Alicia Keys, Corinne Bailey Rae, Erykah Badu, Lizz Wright, Mary J. Blige, Maysa, Nedra Johnson, Ruthie Foster, Tracy Chapman, South Africa's Judith Sephuma, Brazilian songstress Rosa Passos and more.
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