I had the same conversation over and over again when I was conducting research for my doctoral dissertation on contemporary black gospel music. When I spoke to older churchgoers—dozens of them, in central North Carolina and Houston, Texas—they always told me the same thing. It went something like this: “Contemporary gospel is OK. It’s […]

Many Americans are uncomfortable with the very idea of black people living in the rural South. “Black” plus “rural,” for them, evokes images of slavery and of the “Strange Fruit” hanging from Southern trees that Billie Holiday so hauntingly sang about. This discomfort is reflected in the mass media’s tacit erasure of anything connecting black […]

The podcast Crazy Good Turns, that celebrate nonprofits and people who do crazy good turns for others, premiered their episode on Music Maker Relief Foundation today. The episode features partner artists Eddie Tigner and Robert Finley and Music Maker’s Executive Director Tim Duffy.   Listen to the episode – HERE!   This year Crazy Good Turns will […]

Following in a line of black country singers that include Charley Pride, Linda Martell, Ray Charles and more recently Darius Rucker, Sam Frazier, Jr. sings the sweet songs that have defined country music.  He sings the blues and croons plaintive melodies on his trusted harmonica.  Out of the backwoods of Alabama, Sam has been a […]

Relying on the local pawn shop seems to be a running theme in the blues. A double edged sword though, you have to drop off your instrument, your main squeeze, with the hopes that she’ll be waiting there for you when you can afford to come back and pick her up again. It doesn’t always […]