k.d. lang's Ingnue

(Paperback)

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Canadian performer k.d. lang broke new ground in the 1980s by blending the genres of punk and country, dubbed cowpunk, with her band, the Reclines. Despite Grammy-award-winning recordings and frequent North American TV spots, mainstream country radio excluded lang from airplay due to her unconventional gender presentation and perceived sexuality. Not until langs 1992 pop album Ingnue, the release of the single Constant Craving, and her subsequent coming out in The Advocate did lang earn critical acclaim worldwide. The book addresses langs rise to fame after switching genres, the successful reinvention of her sound and persona, and how she found herself immersed in the whirlwind of MTV and the "lesbian chic" aesthetic of 1990s pop culture. As an LGBTQ author, Joanna McNaney Stein discusses her adolescence and sexual development by weaving in short narrative prose pieces and line drawings with her analysis of lang and Ingnue. Also included are interviews with lang's musical collaborators: Ingnue co-writer Ben Mink, drummer Fred Eltringham, pianist Daniel Clarke, and singer-songwriter Laura Veirs.

Author Bio

Joanna McNaney Stein is a writer and an Assistant Professor of English at the City University of New York, Kingsborough. Her creative work has appeared in Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, PopMatters, Bust, LGBTQ Nation, The Brooklyn Rail, and the satirical Hard Times. Twitter/Instagram @joannafolk www.joanna-stein.com