Friday, April 13, 2012

Boo Hanks and Dom Flemons set to showcase new collaborative album on tour

Music Maker is pleased to announce the addition of several upcoming tour dates for Boo Hanks and Dom Flemons. The two blues artists plan to promote their new collaborative album Buffalo Junction, which will be released June 19, with four shows along the East Coast in August 2012. Hanks and Flemons will be performing at the World Café in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 15, at Joe’s Pub in New York City on August 16, at Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia, on August 17 and 18, and at the Hamilton in Washington, D.C. on August 19.

Hanks, one of the most important ‘discoveries’ in recent blues history, grew up sharecropping in Vance County, N.C., where he learned to play guitar from his father and from listening to Blind Boy Fuller on a wind-up gramophone. After partnering with Music Maker he went from being heard only in his community to playing for thousands at shows and festivals across the South, at the Lincoln Center and in Belgium, and opening for the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Flemons, who won a Grammy in 2011 with the Drops, was at the Music Maker office the day Hanks first arrived, and their friendship and collaborations grew from that first jam session over the next six years.

Hanks’ and Flemons’ new album Buffalo Junction, named for Hanks’ hometown in Virginia, features upbeat, country blues that crosses generational lines. The album highlights Hanks on the guitar and vocals, while Flemons plays a variety of traditional instruments such as the jug, harmonica, bones and also sings backup vocals.

Music Maker president Tim Duffy said of the upcoming tour: “Audiences will have a chance to enjoy this new collaboration in person through these performances. They will see live the passing of the torch from Piedmont Blues veteran Boo Hanks to an artist like Dom, who is poised to take the sound into this new century.”

Hanks is a partner artist of Music Maker, while Flemons is a Next Generation Artist. Through Next Generation partnerships, MMRF fosters the continuation of Southern traditional music among younger generations of musicians. Buffalo Junction is a collaborative album that does just that.

Listen to a track from Buffalo Junction here.

Tour dates:
8/15 – World Café, Philadelphia
8/16 – Joe’s Pub, NYC
8/17 & 8/18 – Blue Ridge Music Center, Galax, VA
8/19 – The Hamilton, Washington, D.C.

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About Music Maker Relief Foundation:

Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. is a tax exempt, public charity under IRS code 501(c)3. Music Maker aims to keep our Southern culture vital by directly supporting senior (over 55) American roots musicians in need, expanding their professional careers, and assisting Next Generation artists in the development of their professional careers. Since the organization’s founding in 1994, Music Maker has assisted hundreds of musicians who represent the traditions of Blues, Gospel, Old-Time String Band, Jazz and more. Music Maker’s programs ensure the talents of these cultural treasures are accessible so that our rich musical heritage can be shared with the world and preserved for future generations.

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