A couple of weeks ago, Ironing Board Sam took to the stage with a bevy of elementary school students backing him up on ukeleles, glockenspiels and with their voices; a middle school jazz band was off to the side and Music Maker intern Raphael plucked along on bass. The stage was the middle of a […]

My favorite part of this recipe is that it includes an ingredient called “Slap Your Mama.” This was so delicious that it was entirely gone and there were no leftovers to be shared in the office this week! Major Handy’s Gumbo ­­­­­­­­­ Ingredients: 3 bell peppers chopped 2 large onions chopped 1 bulb of garlic […]

Listen: Vellevina I love this classic tune, almost more talking than singing, telling the story of, what else, a girl. It’s a simple tune, with Big Boy on the guitar and belting out lyrics. In between the chorus, he continues the story, and you can feel yourself transported to Big Boy’s complicated (to say the […]

“First time that I played washboard, I just won’t forget this…I was on stage had my thimbles on and two thimbles just popped off and just went out and that was just the funniest thing and I just had to…move right on, keep going.” – Tonya Locklear In the mid to late 1800s, Creole musicians […]

The Librarian and The Banjo is a one-hour documentary about the life and legacy of a Milwaukee-born music librarian who proved that the banjo came from Africa with the slaves. Her work shattered long-held stereotypes and laid the groundwork for a remarkable revival of black string band music. Buy the DVD and be entered to […]