Pamela DeGroff been writing for TGForum since the start of 1999. Her humor column, The Pamela Principle, ran until 2005. She started the Perpetual Change music column in May of 1999, and in 2008, Angela Gardner came up with the idea for the Transvocalizers column and put Pam to work on that. Pamela was a regular contributor to Transgender Community News until that magazine's demise. While part of a support group in Nashville called The Tennessee Vals she began writing for their newsletter, and also wrote for several local GLBT alternative newspapers in Tennessee. Pamela is currently a staff reporter for a small town daily paper in Indiana, and is also a working musician.
This month, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce someone who will be new to most of this column’s readers, but who is definitely not new to the music world. Desiree Hines of Philadelphia, PA is a classically trained musician, whose instrument of choice is pipe organ.
Gospel music done by a drag entertainer? Hey, why not. Although, please don’t call Our Lady J a drag queen. She’s been known to take serious issue with that. She makes it clear that she’s a transsexual, thank you very much. Our Lady J is best known as a singer/songwriter/keyboardist, who has been described as […]
Last month was the first installment of our interview with Roger Anthony Mapes, a.k.a Yolanda. Since Roger had some very interesting insights and thoughts, we though we’d run the interview in two installments so as not to edit out anything that is important. In last month’s installment, Roger briefly mentioned the new album that he […]
Lucas Silveira isn’t your standard fare for this column. While our initial focus was on drag entertainers who sing in their own voice, Lucas, as a transman, certainly doesn’t fill that bill. No matter, though, because this is a transgender artist who is beginning to make an international impact, and will help to advance positive […]
Any musician whose career has a lasting shelf-life has learned the art of reinventing themselves. The best examples are probably Madonna, Elton, and David Bowie. Granted, that’s a short list, but you get the point. The question that comes to mind after awhile though is this: what’s more important—the public image or the actual music? […]
Suzy Wedge is a musician/singer with a mission. Her chosen vehicle for that mission happens to be surf music. Okay, so what’s so unusual about that? After all, there is a renewed interest in that genré. What makes Suzy Wedge unique is that she is a transgender Canadian who is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. She […]
“People need to know you can be a trans woman of color and still have a successful career,” said Tona Brown. While that might read like an overly obvious statement, coming from a minority individual who is part of yet another minority, it belies the talent and tenacity that is the foundation of who Tona […]
This month Pamela DeGroff profiles a talented transman vocalist from the San Francisco area who is making a mark for himself in the dance and hip hop worlds. Joshua Klipp is his name and he has released two CDs since 2006. One of his songs is a mix of his current male voice singing with […]
I’m either getting old (and let’s not go there), or transgender artists are getting way younger all the time. Case in point is this month’s featured Transvocalizer, Johnny Boy. She is from Philadelphia and is all of 18, but is already establishing herself through an incredible array of videos on the Internet. She raps and […]
There must be something in the Guinness in England. When you start to list all the incredible musicians whose talents have not only influenced our lives but have changed the course of popular music…well, there’s not enough space in an article of this length to make a comprehensive effort. There’s the obvious ones…The Beatles, The […]
With the posting of this installment of Perpetual Change, the column is officially ten years old. And quite honestly, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. I never believed I could do this for ten years. Long time readers of Perpetual Change (both of you) will probably note some of the changes that have […]
“I don’t like being referred to as ‘she’ necessarily,” said Miss Guy, well known DJ and former lead vocalist for the band Toilet Boys. “I’m happy being a pretty boy. I get mistaken for a girl sometimes. More on the street during the day with no make-up on than I do when I’m painted and […]
This month, Perpetual Change features two different aspects of the transgender music community. Philadelphia will hosting the first of its kind GLBT Arts Festival in May; and in Chicago, trans musician Jami Bantry has turned open-mic nights into a great opportunity for up-and-coming artists of all kinds.
Pam DeGroff chats with gay musicians and TG allies Robert Urban and Nick Ganato about the state of Internet radio.
The word “fickle” could have been created with the music business in mind. The industry as a whole is notorious for changing everything from formats to genres to hairstyles. Fans can be worse…even brutal at times. Whatever is today’s musical genré du jour will be considered (within about a month…) “classic tracks.” So, anyone who […]
This month’s installment of Perpetual Change introduces Olivia Margaret, who is not only a classically trained musician and composer, but an accomplished technician as well. “Being a composer is both an avocation and an extension of my primary career,” she said. “I have been a designer, builder, restorer, and voicer of pipe organs, and lately […]
“I was asked if I feel like a woman now, but the truth is I have always I was asked if I feel like a woman now, but the truth is I have always felt like a woman — I just ended up in the wrong body. “I can enjoy swimming, and bikinis, go in […]
This month Transvocalizers brings you a profile of a young singer who is Germany’s answer to Miley Cyrus, and she happens to also be the “world’s youngest transsexual.” This month’s Transvocalizer — Kim Petras.
It used to just be in the air – radio. Now it’s on the World Wide Web and you can listen to everything, even TG programming. Pamela DeGroff brings us a two part report on Internet radio and some news about Israeli TS singer Aderet in this edition of Perpetual Change.
So far in this new column, we have featured some well known drag entertainers. The term “drag queen” isn’t applicable to most of them, although a few wear it with pride. What we are focusing on are transgender vocalists/entertainers whose main tool of presentation is through singing. This month we feature TG vocalist Diane Michelle. […]
What do a bear suit, a harp, and a bad moment as a tree surgeon have in common? Well, in a sane, practical world, probably nothing. But in the life and world of transgender musician Baby Dee, these are all part of her story.
Christmas Music plus I was sort of wondering what could be done with this new Transvocalizers feature to keep in line with the holidays. Given the extent of our economic downturn (duress, even…), the gift of music is still a highly affordable way to celebrate the season, regardless of your personal beliefs. In our main […]
New music just in time for the holidays is always a welcome treat. Jennifer Leitham’s new project, Left Coast Story, managed to get a fall release so as to be available now for your gift giving needs. Jennifer will also be appearing at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center in New York City over […]
Vicki D’Salle is the type of artist who can expand her musical horizon without going too far afield from her chosen genre’. As a musician, she’s developed a repertoire based around a jazzy piano style, which also includes healthy doses of boogie and more melodic playing. Her set contains everything from standards to original material. […]
Calpernia Addams is someone I’ve known since my time in Nashville, a few years back. She was one of the better known local drag entertainers, but I also discovered that she is a musician as well. She played violin in a Celtic/Irish music band called The Secret Commonwealth. Before becoming a professional entertainer, she was […]
There was a time, and not too long ago actually, when if the words “transgender” and “music” were found in the same sentence, it had something to do with heavy metal, goth, or glam rock. In other words, stuff that was heavy and a bit on the dark side. (…sort of like a refreshing pint […]
