What can the lived experience of a white, transfemme, queer musician tell us about the intersections of place, queer identity, and embodiment in the late 20th and early 21st century United States?

Raised in a conservative religious household in the Northeastern United States, singer songwriter and music professor Jessye DeSilva (she/her/hers) narrates her journey from childhood, exploring how she navigated her adolescence and adulthood as a queer person, poet, musician, academic, and spiritual agnostic.

Traversing religious trauma, eating disorders and body dysmorphia, postsecondary education, and a mid-life return to the music industry, Jessye uses recollection, song lyric, and story to examine the intersections of place, queer identity, and embodiment in the late 20th and early 21st century United States.

Tackling themes of identity, isolation, relationships and self-image, this book is ideal reading for students of Queer and LGBT+ Studies, Gender Studies, American Studies, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Music.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Abstract
• Content warning
• Table of Contents
• 1 Queen of the backyard
  • Study questions
• 2 10,000 Things (a letter to my mother)
  • Study questions
• 3 Firecracker
  • Study questions
• 4 Sundays (a letter to my father)
  • Study questions
• 5 Jeannie Frances/Comrades in arms
  • Study questions
• 6 The devil in New Jersey
• 7 Glitter up the dark
  • Study questions
• 8 Family tree
  • Study questions
• References
• Index

Jessye Dylan DeSilva (she/her/hers) is Assistant Professor of Voice at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee School of Music.