This is the second nomination in the Best Folk Album category for the group, the first, in 2010, resulted in a win for their album "Genuine Negro Jig."
The Drops have received acclaim internationally for their take on traditional folk music, and for drawing attention to the African-American contributions to American folk and traditional music.
Don't miss the Grammys on CBS, 8pm February 10th! Good luck Drops!
Ben Payton partners with Music Maker!
Music Maker first met up with Ben Payton when working with him at the Southern Mississippi Roots Festival in October. Now, Ben is coming to our neck of the woods, and will perform at Hillsborough music venue Billsborough on 12/13 from 8-10pm!
Scott Baretta, from Living Blues, says, "Ben Payton, from Brandon, Mississippi, has his roots in Chicago's Blues scene - playing with musical acts ranging from Bobby Rush to jazz pianist Randy Weston until the late 70's. He returned to music in the early 2000s. He has since recorded two albums, performed in Europe, and appeared at prestigious venues across the States. Payton writes many of his own songs but is also keenly interested in exploring - and exposing to new audiences - the music of Mississippi's blues pioneers."
Don't miss the Billsborough show on 12/13 - located at 106 South Churton Street in Hillsborough. See you there!
Leyla McCalla launches Kickstarter to fund her new album!
Music Maker Next Generation artist Leyla McCalla, currently on tour with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her new album, Vari-Colored Songs. It was featured as a staff pick on Kickstarter's main website this week!
As Leyla describes it, the album is "an album of songs written to Langston Hughes' poetry, Haitian folk songs and original compositions."
Leyla received a $3000 grant from the Louisiana State Arts Council, but that only covers some of the costs. She needs to raise at least another $5000 to begin work on the album in January.
Leyla needs help to make this recording a reality and you can help! Check out her campaignhere!
Keep up with Music Maker!
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Upcoming Shows: Click herefor more info on upcoming events
12/13- Ben Payton - Billsborough, Hillsborough, NC 12/14 - Ironing Board Sam - The Depot, Hillsborough, NC 12/15 - Beverly "Guitar" Watkins - Northside Tavern, Atlanta, GA 12/27 - Beverly "Guitar" Watkins - Steve's Live Music, Sandy Springs, GA 12/31 - Beverly "Guitar" Watkins - Fatt Matt's Rib Shack, Atlanta, GA 12/31 - Cool John Ferguson - First Night, Raleigh, NC 1/04 - Boo Hanks - The Eddy Pub, Saxapahaw, NC 1/13 - Ironing Board Sam - NC Museum of History, Raleigh, NC 2/01 - Ironing Board Sam - The Eddy Pub, Saxapahaw, NC
Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain
recognition and meet their day to day needs. We present these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations.
It is not widely known in this day that the fiddle and banjo were commonly played by African Americans from slavery times to well into this century. The two instruments in combination once provided much of the dance music for the balls and frolics of both white and black Southerners. And thousands of dance tunes--waltzes, schottisches, and reels--were adapted and composed for the fiddle and banjo. Scholars have long established the African origins of the banjo, the prototype of which was made of hollow gourds and animal hides. The fiddle, of course, is the familiar name for the European violin, which was brought by early settlers from the British Isles and Germany. No one knows exactly when or how the instruments were first played together, but it was a marriage of two radically different cultural traditions, giving rise to one of America's first truly indigenous musical forms. Joe and Odell Thompson were among the few "old-time" stringband musicians who remained active in the South. They were first cousins who made their homes near the Alamance and Orange County line north of Mebane. Born and raised on farms in the area (Odell in 1911; Joe in 1918), they grew up helping their parents tend crops of tobacco, cotton, corn, and wheat. Music-making was much valued in their households, and the sounds of the banjo and fiddle could be heard often in the evenings and on weekends, whenever the work was done. Their fathers, Walter and John Arch Thompson, were constantly sought after by neighbors, black and white, to play for square dances. The Thompson boys soon began performing at Saturday-night dances with their dads. Joe recalled taking his position in the doorway between rooms filled with dancing couples. "We were playing [four- and eight-hand square dance] sets--I was only seven years old. We had straight chairs, and my feet couldn't touch the floor. And we were running them folks, man, a half an hour." As popular tastes in music and dancing changed through the years, there was less call for fiddlers and banjo players. Joe played his fiddle at dances and parties throughout the 1920s and '30s, while Odell took up the guitar and learned the blues. But their love of the old-time dance music persisted in more private settings, and they continued to perform favorite traditional standards such as "Georgia Buck" and "Hook and Line" at home and family reunions. The early 1970s brought a revival of interest in African American folk music traditions. The Thompsons were "discovered" by folklorists who encouraged them to play publicly again, only this time for predominately white audiences at folk festivals and special events. They appeared at the National Folk Festival at Lowell, Massachusetts, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Washington state, and at New York's Carnegie Hall. They received a N. C. Folk Heritage Award in 1991. Until Odell's untimely death in 1994, the Thompsons’ playing was as inspired and vigorous as ever, thanks in large part to the love and support of their wives, Susie and Pauline. Their dynamic instrumental styles and soaring vocals packed plenty of punch and brought attention to the rich tradition of African American stringband music in the South. Joe Thompson received the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship in 2007 and continued to play his fiddle for appreciative audiences in North Carolina into his 90s. He passed away in February 2012. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, - ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!
Music Maker has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to present a music series in Chapel Hill! The Music Maker Roots and Leaves series will take place on Fridays, June 8th - 29th, on the Village Green in Southern Village. The shows will highlight a diverse array of local musical traditions, from Piedmont Blues to Native American.
6/8 - My South My Blues will feature John Dee Holeman, an NEA National Heritage Fellow, Captain Luke and Cool John Ferguson.
6/15 - Heart Strings will present Piedmont-style guitarist Boo Hanks, and country band Kelly and the Cowboys.
6/22 - Sisters of the South will include performances from powerhouse vocalist Essie Mae Brooks and Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen.
6/29 - Native Voices, our final show, will showcase the Pura Fé Trio alongside 15-year old guitar prodigy Lakota John Locklear.
More info to come. Hope to see you there!
Tom Ciaburri and crew shoot a scene for "Country Girl"
by Tim Duffy
Happy Birthday Lil' Joe!
photo by Jimmy Williams
Trombone player Lil' Joe Burton's birthday was last Friday, May 4th! Joe's nearly 50-year career began in the 1960's with the late, great Junior Wells. Joe has also toured with B.B. King, Bobby Womack, Joe Tex, Otis Clay and many others. He's even appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, Soul Train, and more. He currently resides in Atlanta, G.A. and can be seen frequently playing shows withMudcat.
Carolina Chocolate Drops video for "Country Girl" is #1 on CMT.Com!
Click to play video on CMT.com!
Music Maker board members the Carolina Chocolate Drops filmed a video early this year for their single "Country Girl," and it's now #1 on CMT.com!
The video was directed by Music Maker intern Tom Ciaburri, and includes many Music Maker artists and interns throughout. Watch closely for cameos from Captain Luke, Big Ron Hunter, and John Dee Holeman!
If you're in the Triangle area of N.C., don't miss this Friday night's Back Porch Music at the American Tobacco District! The Music Maker Blues Revue, including John Dee Holeman, Boo Hanks, Captain Luke, Cool John Ferguson, Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen, Ironing Board Sam, Bubba Norwood and Gerald Robinson, will be performing live - you can watch the show in person for free, or listen on 91.5 FM WUNC! For those of you not in N.C., Back Porch Music should be available at WUNC.org as well.
The show will begin at 6pm. More info can be foundhere!
This week we've had birds on the brain, on account of a little red and blue bird knocking into the window behind Corinne's desk about every five minutes. We've tried putting objects in the window, taping swaths of fabric, standing by the window and waiving our hands. Feeling helpless, we turned our attention back to our work.
With birds on our minds, we dug into the Music Maker catalog. We found countless songs whose melodies danced around the theme of birds. We especially liked this number "Marching Jaybird" performed by Etta Baker that appears on her Banjo release. Etta most certainly would have known what to do about this bird.
--Aaron
Upcoming Shows: Click here for more info on upcoming events
5/11 - Music Maker Blues Revue - Back Porch Music, Durham, N.C.
5/11 - Ironing Board Sam - The Depot, Hillsborough, N.C.
5/12 - Cool John Ferguson and Captain Luke - Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain, N.C.
5/27 - Lakota John and Kin - Wake Arts Sundays in Spring, Wake Forest, N.C.
6/08 - The Branchettes and Bishop Dready Manning - The Music Academy of the South, Winston-Salem, N.C.
6/08 - Captain Luke, Cool John Ferguson, John Dee Holeman - Music Maker Roots and Leaves Series, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain
recognition and meet their day to day needs. We present these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations.
Music Maker first met up with Ben Payton when working with him at the Southern Mississippi Roots Festival in October. Now, Ben is coming to our neck of the woods, and will perform at Hillsborough music venue Billsborough on 12/13 from 8-10pm!
This week we've had birds on the brain, on account of a little red and blue bird knocking into the window behind Corinne's desk about every five minutes. We've tried putting objects in the window, taping swaths of fabric, standing by the window and waiving our hands. Feeling helpless, we turned our attention back to our work. 