Boo Hanks grew up sharecropping in Vance County, N.C., where he learned to play guitar. Music Maker has helped Boo go from being heard only in his community to playing for thousands at shows and festivals across the country and around the world. Dom Flemons, who won a Grammy in 2011 with the Drops, was […]

Thanks to the Tinner Hill Blues Festival for putting on an awesome event! Ironing Board Sam, Big Ron Hunter, Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen and Sol performed at the festival this past weekend. Big Ron even hosted a songwriting workshop, where audience members got to hear about his process and then write a song together. Check […]

The Jazz Foundation’s Agnes Varis Jazz and Blues in the Schools Program creates performance and teaching opportunities for elderly artists who still have so much to give back to their communities. Ironing Board Sam, Alabama Slim, Eddie Tigner, Dr. Burt, Boo Hanks, and John Dee Holeman will now have more opportunities for steady income, and […]

On the final day of May, Ironing Board Sam recorded new tracks in the former Music Maker studios. Just a few days before Music Maker had me bring a handful of pens to Ironing Board Sam.  Sam said he had never bought a pen in his life and for the first time ever, it caught […]

The Herald-Journal of Spartanburg, SC, wrote an article on Ironing Board Sam! Check it out here: https://www.goupstate.com/article/20120524/ENT/205241006?tc=ar