News: Sing Us A Song, Piano Woman: New Tori Book This Summer!

Feminist scholar and Toriphile Adrienne Trier-Bieniek is getting ready to release a brand-new book examining Tori Amos and — most particularly — her fans. The book, Sing Us a Song, Piano Woman: Female Fans and the Music of Tori Amos, “explores the many-layered relationships female fans build with feminist musicians in general and with Tori Amos, in particular,” Adrienne says. It’s due out this summer on Scarecrow Press; in the meantime, you can check out more details on Adrienne’s site and on the publisher’s site. Or click through the jump to see the full press release.

Sing Us a Song, Piano Woman: Female Fans and the Music of Tori Amos explores the many-layered relationships female fans build with feminist musicians in general and with Tori Amos, in particular. Using original interview research with more than forty fans of Tori Amos, multiple observer- participant experiences at Amos’s concerts, and critical content analysis of Amos’s lyrics and larger body of work, Adrienne Trier-Bieniek utilizes a combination of gender, emotions, music, and activism to unravel the typecasts plaguing female fans. Trier-Bieniek aggressively challenges the popular culture stereotypes that have painted all female fans as screaming, crying teenage girls who are unable to control themselves when a favorite (generally male) performer occupies the stage.

In stunning contrast, admirers of Tori Amos comprise a more introspective category of fan. Sing Us a Song, Piano Woman examines the wide range of stories from these listeners, exploring how Amos’s female fans are unique because Amos places the experiences of women at the center of her music. Tori Amos’s fan base is considered devoted because of the deeply emotional, often healing, connection they have to her music, an aspect that has been overlooked, particularly in sociological and cultural research on gender, emotions and music.

At a time when superficial women dominate public media presentations, from the Kardashians to the “Real Housewives,” the relationship between Tori Amos and her fans illustrates the continuous search by women for female performers who challenge patriarchal standards in popular culture. Trier-Bieniek’s research is a contribution to research aimed at gender, pop culture, social psychology, emotions, culture, women’s studies and heath/healing.

Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, PhD, is currently professor of sociology at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. She has published in the journals Qualitative Research, Humanity and Society, is a contributor to The Art of Social Critique: Painting Mirrors of Social Life and has been a guest columnist for The Orlando Sentinel. Adrienne regularly contributes to organizations seeking advice or information on music and healing.