Forthcoming Novel, Due March 2021
“Those white boys on the major labels would never give an inch to a Negro woman playing race music.”
It’s the late 1970s, and ex-Pentecostal Black female electric guitarist Rory Tharpe navigates the cutthroat world of corporate rock, dive bars and dusk-to-dawn recording sessions as she travels the nation in a dilapidated tour bus with her bickering, boozing all-male band. Much-imitated and little-credited, Rory is in a midlife tailspin when she’s asked to tour with international superstar Jude Justis, a white woman “blues” singer who built a turbulent mega-platinum career out of stealing from black musicians. Frustrated by the racism and sexism of the rock boys club, Rory warily joins forces with Jude then takes a detour through the painful past she shares with childhood nemesis Divinity Mason, an unorthodox pastor at the helm of budding mega church empire Revivals, Inc.
A homage to maverick guitarist Rosetta Tharpe, Rock ‘N’ Roll Heretic is a bracing look at the power politics, heartbreak and hypocrisy confronting a queer black woman visionary at the intersection of music and commerce, faith and heresy in a segregated music industry forged that eats its black artists.
Praise for Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic:
If you love fearless, bold, unapologetic strong leads, then Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic is for you. Paying homage to the great trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, this book is filled with twists and turns that will leave you rethinking rock music as you know it. Sikivu, you have created a masterpiece that will challenge history and entertain readers for years.
—Malina Moye, electric guitarist, international recording artist, and co-founder of the Drive Hope Foundation
Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic is a powerful, unflinching, unforgettable, wild ride journey into the struggles a vigorous Black queer woman artist endures to survive in an industry that does not want her there. Every daunting step Rory takes towards her rock ambitions leads her further back to a haunting childhood and Pentecostal past. On the edge of defeat, her trusty guitar is the armor that guards her sanity, allowing her to break through the “isms” that threaten to overshadow her contributions to Rock ‘n’ Roll.
—Samantha “GhettoSongBird” Hollins, Rock ‘n’ Roll singer-songwriter-guitarist
