Glory Guitars: Memoir of a ’90s Teenage Punk Rock Grrrl is a memoir written by Erin Barnes under her alter ego of Gogo Germaine. The narrative is primarily set in the 1990s when in a place like suburban Fort Collins, Colorado, pre-Columbine massacre and pre-9/11 much less recent social and political developments, the worst thing that seemed likely for one’s life was to settle for a mediocre life safe from doing anything that feels significant and inspiring. Rebellion against the conformity and sheer mundanity of life seemed to be a pursuit of transgressive sensory experiences like getting drunk and high with one’s friends, having sex at a relatively young age and acts of petty vandalism. All very common rites of passage for the American teenager for the past few decades and most often the subject of After School Specials in the 70s and 80s and Puritanical depictions in mainstream media. Barnes perfectly captures the spirit of that time in life when you feel so much so dramatically all at once and you need a release, an outlet, for that energy. Anyone that grew up before the 2000s will immediately identify with the way Germaine tells the story from the perspective of a young teen and the ways you try to make sense of and navigate your world and have fun and grasp at the things that give you a sense of your own agency as a human even if your adult self might look back and wince at some of the foolishness, ignorance and hubris that were components of your questionable decision-making as you were learning to become your future self. Barnes also sprinkles bits of self-awareness as the narrative progresses in a manner that organically reflects growing up and learning. Barnes sagely does not let the fact of her current adulthood hamper being true to where her head was when she was a teen and that’s what makes the book so believable and readable. Many of the names were changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent. But in naming hangouts and landmarks and vividly describing the people and the situations that were her adolescent universe. Barnes doesn’t sanitize that period in her life nor does she romanticize it either. Rather she tells it from how she remembers it in its full spectrum of experience with an admirable level of self-acceptance of the truth of her life from the truly, yes, glorious moments of adolescence and the low points that help to define one’s life. It’s an honest and often startling story that Barnes lays out in chapters and sections for which she chose a song as a header that encapsulates the emotional resonance of the part of the story you’re about to read. Beginning to end it’s a work of rich cultural and psychological detail that offers great insight into a time and place of American social history generally and of the life of the author whose experiences will seem familiar to many that survived their tumultuous teen years. Barnes’ subsequent career as a band publicist, music journalist and writer brings to the memoir a literary perspective and sense of storytelling that helps to render the book poignant and compelling throughout without compromising its raw and conversational approach.
Glory Guitars: Memoir of a ’90s Teenage Punk Rock Grrrl can be ordered from University of Hell Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble or found wherever books are sold. On Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Barnes will release the book at an event at Tattered Cover Books in Denver at 6 p.m. which will include select readings and an FAQ session. Following that Barnes will further celebrate the book release at The Crypt with a performance by queer pop punk band Velvet Horns and DJ sets from author Josiah Hesse and Brian Polk of various Denver-based punk bands including Joy Subtraction. To further stay engaged with Barnes’/Gogo Germaine’s work she can be found at the links below. As a companion to the book Barnes created a Spotify playlist with the songs mentioned throughout, link below as well.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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