Biography

Nobody made moonshine, worked a cakewalk, chopped wood or played a harmonica like Neal Pattman (1926-2005).

How We Helped:
Since becoming a member of the Music Maker family in 1995, Neal Pattman has received assistance acquiring a passport, sustenance grants for medicine, funds for emergency relief, and a variety of touring and recording opportunities. Music Maker introduced Neal to Taj Mahal, with whom he performed and recorded, and Neal had the chance to tour extensively with the Music Maker Blues Revue in 42 cities throughout the United States and Europe. He is featured in the book Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America (2004).

Losing an arm in a wagon wheel at the age of nine didn’t slowed him at all. “66 years ago the Blues knocked on my door and they wouldn’t leave.”

His testimony can be heard in a sound and a style his daddy taught him as a child in the country outside Athens, Georgia. Neal was inspired by the playing, whoops and hollers of Sonny Terry, and played on the streets of Athens, as well as at local clubs and festivals. His recognition grew in 1989 with a performance at the Lincoln Center, and two years later, in 1991, Pattman became a Music Maker artist. He began playing with Cootie Stark and Dave Peabody, and released albums in 1995, 1999, and 2001. In May 2005, at age 79, Pattman passed away due to bone cancer