This collection is the first interdisciplinary volume to examine black women s negotiation of race and gender in African American music. Contributors address black women s activity in musical arenas that pre- and postdate the emergence of the vaudeville blues singers of the 1920s. Throughout, the authors illustrate black women s advocacy of themselves as blacks and as women in music. Feminist? Black feminist? The editors take care to stress that each term warrants interrogation: Black women can and have forged, often, but not always and not everywhere the same across time identities that are...

Eileen M. Hayes argues that the women's music festival, with its foundation in lesbian feminism, is a significant institutional site for the emergence of black feminist consciousness in the contemporary period. She offers sage perspectives on black women's involvement in the women's music festival scene, the ramifications of their performances as drag kings in those environments, and the challenges and joys of a black lesbian retreat based on the feminist festival model. With acuity and candor, Hayes elucidates why this music scene matters, Veteran vocalist, percussionist, and producer Linda...