ALGIA MAE HINTONThe North Carolina-based blues singer grew up on a farm in the 1930s and starte
ALGIA MAE HINTONThe North Carolina-based blues singer grew up on a farm in the 1930s and started performing at a young age. Her mother taught her how to play guitar in the Piedmont blues style at around 9 years old. Hinton was an adept performer, dressing up her musical skill with theatric flourishes (learning how to play the guitar behind her back, for example).“I played at camps, jailhouses, rest homes, lotta places,” she once said. She was a local musician up until 1978, when UNC-Chapel Hill folklorist Glenn Hinson asked her to contribute to an album that would be paired with a museum exhibit about 19th-century African-Americans. In 1996, she put out a proper album titled Honey Babe: Blues, Folk Tunes and Gospel From North Carolina. The song titles are gloriously eye-catching: “When You Kill the Chicken Save Me the Head,” “Lima Beans” and, of course, the title track “Honey Babe,” which is the first song she ever learned to play. Photos by Juli Leonard. -- source link
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