ABSTRACT

I would like to introduce you to SoulShaker, a creative non-fiction manuscript about desire, envy, and a penchant for deceit. 

Based on my own experiences as a classical and gospel pianist, back-up singer, lead vocalist, songwriter, and producer, my objective is to share the sacrifices and rewards of being a crossover artist, the challenges facing women in music, and how the many misconceptions about musical talent diminish the industry's ability to address it effectively. 



That said, I want my writing to be notable for the way in which it explores the search of artistic and personal integrity, and in particular, the complex social pressure related to being a woman.

Because I see literature as a commanding transmitter of cultural values, it is a privilege to follow the women writers whose work examines some of the ideas, behaviors, and conditions that disable women in their careers, their relationships with men, and with each other.

The voices of the ancestors take over and compel me to write as a way of figuring out my place in this world. I remember when our music allowed us to survive the loss of our history.  I write by remembering. 

LaForrest Cope

New York City, January 2021



PRECIS

     In SoulShaker, Lala is a independent young woman who happens to be a professional musician with years of experience as a singer, songwriter, and one of this country's first woman record producer in the 1980s.  This bildungsroman opens in New York City’s borough of Queens in the 70s during her early teens. In the process, she forms her own band, tours and records her own songs; songs that sprout wings and soon “crossover” from the “chitlin circuit” all the way up the charts at a time in American history when black lives always seemed to matter whenever it came to our musical culture.

     Lala’s meteoric rise to success demonstrates that the career of bright lights, which a million wannabes would die for, can often lead to a lethal jolt of high wattage. The difference between being an artist and a star often consists of stoking that penchant for deceit.

   After years of "basement" band practices and gigs, Lala's songs “crossover” from the chitlin circuit onto the pop charts, all at a time in American musical history when R&B music, the corporate product of the post 1970s era, blended with other styles of funk and rock, to create a new pop music sound and global cultural phenomenon generating billions of dollars in corporate revenue. 

    This narrative chronicles the moral and emotional journey of Lala, from her parents' flawed marriage to the realization of her boyfriend's individual success. Her attachment to both inform her agency both in and outside America. As a backup singer on tour traveling light, LALA confuses her personal and professional desire, as both feed into her search for musical recognition.

    Her dysfunctional past provides the tools necessary for her to navigate the mediocrity, greed, and genius in the music industry. Her greatest lesson is to learn the difference between being an artist and a star. 

     SoulShaker probes the agony of doubt and the silence of God. Through it all, Lala’s meteoric rise to success demonstrates how a career of bright lights that a million wannabes would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not it is worth the price of her soul...

The Piano Lesson

by

Romare Bearden 

PUBLISHED LITERARY WORK:



So pleased to be asked to contribute to a literary journal and have my first chapter of Soul Shaker published on my birthday. Holla!