Category: Folk
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Westward Bound Cowboy and Country with Dom Flemons and Vania Kinard
African-American Country Music History & Cowboy Lore through Sunday December 14 at Berkeley Public Library DeFord Bailey Legacy Festival December 13-15 at Freight & Salvage Bay Area folks! Dom Flemons and Vania Kinard are curating a music festival and library exhibit celebrating the history of African-American Cowboy Culture and Country Music. The weekend of music…
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Harmonies and healing Frequencies: Musician Cinamon Blair carries On the musical legacy of her grandfather, left-handed Banjo & Guitar jazz musician Lee Blair
As I was recovering from the flu last week I decided to watch the documentary American Symphony on Netflix and it was absolutely heart-wrenching and timely and spoke to the incredible creativity required to survive a history as brutal and violent as American history. The story really reminded me of the healing and survival power…
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The Cosmic Heart of Fiddler Anne Harris
I first discovered singer/songwriter, roots fiddler Anne Harris, through her work with trance Blues innovator Otis Taylor, who I had seen play at the Doheny Blues festival more than a decade ago. Anne recorded and toured worldwide for nearly a decade with Otis Taylor. Long time readers of this blog know how central the Blues…
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Collective memory making and healing among GuateMayan survivors of state inflicted violence through embodied testimonies, public art, and music.
Two weeks ago, I published a blog post on the mural & graffiti art and hip-hop music of Lakota artists Derek Smith and Talon Bazille, respectively. As I was writing that post I was simultaneously working on a collage art piece for my cousin’s dissertation to illustrate the concept of cuerpo territorio amongst Indigenous GuateMayan…
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Reclaiming Lakota narratives & sovereignty: Hip-hop, graffiti art, creating lyrical medicine
Lakota graffiti artist, muralist and community organizer Derek “Focus” Smith has been challenging the power structure of the “Mississippi of the North” since the early 2000s bringing the power of graffiti and muralism to the Reservation and using his craft to tell the stories of Lakota history and encourage the youth. The art has taken…
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Multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winning songwriter Dom Flemons illuminates hidden American history in his music.
in Bluegrass, Blues, Chicago, Country, Cowboys, Folk, Guitarists, Harmonica, Nashville, Piedmont bluesDom Flemons, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter is a veritable musicologist of American folk music. I first heard Dom in his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops back in my days working as the American Roots genre manager at the Grammys. Many of his solo albums since the days of that band have been…
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The blues according to Nina Simone: my ode to Queen Nina
What hasn’t been said or written about Queen Nina Simone? She has been called an icon, a legend, and a genius, and she is one of my favorite artists of all time and I would be remiss if I didn’t use my blogging platform to honor her music – especially her love of blues and…
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