MEDIA ALERT: PLACING A PLAQUE ON ROCK & ROLL AND BLUES HALL OF FAMER LEAD BELLY’S APARTMENT BUILDING TO MARK HIS BIRTHDAY TOMORROW AT 3PM

POET TYEHIMBA JESS; BLUES MAN AND ACTOR GUY DAVIS; LEAD BELLY ARCHIVIST/AUTHOR JOHN REYNOLDS; AND FOLKSINGER TOM CHAPIN TO DEDICATE PLAQUE AT CEREMONY

FOOTAGE AND PHOTOS WILL BE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Lead Belly Fest – the multi-artist tribute to Lead Belly taking place at Carnegie Hall on February 4 – will be placing a plaque on the apartment building where he lived during the last decade of his life at 414 E. 10^th Street tomorrow, to commemorate his life and times in New York on his birthday of January 20. Those speaking at the ceremony include National Endowment for the Arts fellow, poet, and Lead Belly chronicler Tyehimba Jess; actor and bluesman Guy Davis; three-time GRAMMY winner Tom Chapin; and Lead Belly historian, archivist, and author John Reynolds. Other members of NYC’s folk and blues scenes will be in attendance, including Ernie Vega. A group performance of “Good Night Irene” will follow.

WHO: Tyehimba Jess, Guy Davis, John Reynolds, Tom Chapin, Stephen Petrus, other musicians

WHAT: Placing of plaque on Lead Belly’s former building

WHEN: 3pm, January 20, 2016

WHERE: 414 E. 10^th Street, NYC

RSVP: nick.losseaton@gmail.com or 718.541.1130

+ Guy Davis is an artist who has excelled in many disciplines; he is a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. He has received accolades and praise for his performance off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in “Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil,” winning the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award”.  Likewise, he received rave reviews for his appearance on Broadway in “Finian's Rainbow”, playing the part originally played by the legendary Sonny Terry.  He has been nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards and has performed on such shows as Prairie Home Companion, Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Most recently, he is nominated for two 2016 Blues Music Awards. A friend of Pete Seeger’s, the two used to perform “Midnight Special” in concert frequently.

+ Born in Detroit, poet and Lead Belly chronicler Tyehimba Jess earned his BA from the University of Chicago and his MFA from New York University. Jess is the rare poet who bridges slam and academic poetry. His first collection, Leadbelly (2005), an exploration of Ledbetter’s life, was chosen for the National Poetry Series by Brigit Pegeen Kelly, and was voted one of the top three poetry books of the year by Black Issues Book Review. His work has been featured in numerous anthologies, including Soulfires: Young Black Men in Love and Violence (1996), Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry (2000), and Dark Matter 2: Reading the Bones (2004). He is the author of African American Pride: Celebrating Our Achievements, Contributions, and Enduring Legacy (2003). His honors include a Whiting Writers’ Award, a Chicago Sun-Times Poetry Award, and a Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award. A former artist-in-residence with Cave Canem, Jess has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown, as well as a Lannan Writing Residency. Jess has taught at the Juilliard School, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and at the College of Staten Island in New York City.

+ Through 50 years, 24 albums, eight GRAMMY nominations, three GRAMMY awards and thousands of live performances, Tom Chapin has entertained, amused and enlightened audiences of all ages with life-affirming original songs told in a sophisticated array of musical styles. The New York Times calls Chapin "one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music," while Billboard described him as "the best family artist around" and "totally captivating." Parents magazine stated, "Nobody today is writing and performing better kids' songs than Tom Chapin." In his varied career, Chapin has appeared on Broadway as Jim in the hit-musical Pump Boys and Dinettes and off-Broadway as musical director of Cotton Patch Gospel and Harry Chapin: Lies & Legends. In film he created the music for the award-winning shark documentary Blue Water, White Death and had a cameo role in the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. On television Chapin hosted the ABC Emmy & Peabody award-winning children’s show Make A Wish and the documentary series National Geographic Explorer.  His newest recording is the acclaimed “70” (Sing Out! says, “Pick up this album, it’s a great one.”)

+ John Reynolds has been a fan, collector, advocate and Ledbetter family confident for almost 60 years. He knows through his own sense-driven perception, the enormous importance of Huddle Ledbetter. His extensive files contain just about every photograph, article, artifact and tangential scrap that bears Lead Belly's stamp. He sought out Huddie's widow Martha after 'Goodnight, Irene' became popular, and visited her often in her top floor apt (#26) at 414 East 10th St in the 50s before joining the navy. He co-authored 'LEAD BELLY: A Life in Pictures' (Steidl, 2008) with Tiny Robinson, Lead Belly's favorite niece.

+ Stephen Petrus is an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellow at the New-York Historical Society, where he is working on his second book, a political and cultural history of Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s. At the Museum of the City of New York, he curated the critically acclaimed exhibition Folk City in 2015 and was co-author of the show's accompanying book, with historian Ronald D. Cohen. Stephen is a twentieth-century U.S. urban and cultural historian. He received his Ph.D. from the City University Graduate Center and taught at Lehman College in the Bronx.

LEAD BELLY FEST ADDS SPECIAL GUEST KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD TO THE FEB. 4 CARNEGIE HALL SHOW

OTHER NEW ADDITIONS TO THE LINEUP INCLUDE: HITMAKER, EDGAR WINTER; AMERICAN SONGSTER, DOM FLEMONS; NYC PIANIST, JOHN DAVIS; NYC’S VERY OWN MARKY RAMONE, & NEW YORK STATE-RENOWNED BLUESMAN, GUY DAVIS.

Lead Belly Fest – the Carnegie Hall all-star celebration of the music and influence of Huddle "Lead Belly” Ledbetter on February 4, headlined by five-time GRAMMY Award winner BUDDY GUY along with the legendary Animals’ frontman ERIC “House of the Rising Sun" BURDON – today announced additions to the lineup. These include special guest multi-million seller, and GRAMMY-nominated blues rock guitarist, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD; American songster, DOM FLEMONS; “Free Ride” singer EDGAR WINTER; New York state bluesman and Pete Seeger cohort GUY DAVIS; also now on the bill are renowned pianist JOHN DAVIS; and NYC’s very own MARKY RAMONE. 

A Spotify playlist of the artists performing at Lead Belly Fest is here.

Photos of artists performing at Lead Belly Fest are here.

+ Born in Shreveport, the same town where Lead Belly was born, Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s provenance virtually destined him to become a great bluesman. Twenty years into his recording career he continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n' roll. Shepherd has built an enviable resume as an accomplished recording artist, a riveting live performer and one of the most talented and distinctive guitarists of his generation. He has been dubbed “the guitarists’ guitarist”. Shepherd has sold millions of albums worldwide, received five GRAMMY® nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, as well as a pair of Orville H. Gibson awards, the Blues Foundation's Keeping The Blues Alive award and two Blues Music awards. He's had seven #1 blues albums and a string of #1 mainstream rock singles. As part of his GRAMMY Award-nominated CD/DVD ‘10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads’, he jammed with fellow blues musicians at Lead Belly’s grave.

+ Dom Flemons is the "American Songster," pulling from traditions of old-time folk music to create new sounds. Having performed music professionally since 2005, he has played live for over one million people just within the past three years. As part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which he co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, he has played at a variety of festivals spanning from the Newport Folk Festival to Bonnaroo, in addition to renowned venues such as the Grand Ole Opry and such radio shows at NPR Fresh Air. Flemons was both host and performer at the recent Lead Belly 125 tribute concert at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

+ From Edgar Winter’s critically acclaimed 1970 debut release, Entrance, he has demonstrated his unique style and ability to cross the genre lines and do the unexpected. His early recording of "Tobacco Road" is a powerful, emotionally devastating masterpiece that propelled him into the national spotlight. With over 20 albums and numerous collaborative efforts to his credit, Edgar Winter has appeared in the film "Netherworld", and the TV shows The Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

+  Guy Davis is an artist who has excelled in many disciplines; he is a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. He has received accolades and praise for his performance off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in “Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil,” winning the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award”.  Likewise, he received rave reviews for his appearance on Broadway in “Finian's Rainbow”, playing the part originally played by the legendary Sonny Terry.  He has been nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards and has performed on such shows as Prairie Home Companion, Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Most recently, he is nominated for two 2016 Blues Music Awards. A friend of Pete Seeger’s, the two used to perform “Midnight Special” in concert frequently. 

+ With his latest Newport Classic recording, Halley’s Comet: Around the Piano with Mark Twain & John Davis, pianist John Davis pays musical tribute to our country’s most celebrated and influential author whose career, like Davis’s, lies at the intersection of white and black culture and high and low culture in American society. The Twain-related works included on the CD, “played powerfully and with a rich palette” according to The New York Times, further Davis’ effort to define, excavate, and disseminate a previously-unacknowledged American roots music initiated by two earlier hit recordings on Newport Classic.

+ Marky Ramone is a New York original, best known for the 15 years he spent drumming for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and MTV’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners The Ramones. He has also been a member of Richard Hell & the Voidoids, ayne County and The Backstreet Boys, and presently fronts Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg.

LEAD BELLY FEST AT CARNEGIE HALL FEBRUARY 4, 2016

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PERFORMERS TO HONOR LONG-TIME NEW YORKER & ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE LEAD BELLY TO INCLUDE 5-TIME GRAMMY WINNER BUDDY GUY; ERIC BURDON OF THE ANIMALS; & MANY MORE

CONCERT PROCEEDS GO TO NON-PROFITS THE ASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN AND PROJECT ALS

“No Lead Belly, no Beatles.” – George Harrison

“Lead Belly wasn’t an influence, he was the influence.” – Van Morrison

Lead Belly Fest presents its first US performance at Carnegie Hall on February 4, 2016, a multi-artist, immersive tribute featuring five-time GRAMMY Award winner Buddy Guy and Eric Burdon (the Animals), among others.

Lead Belly gave his final performance in 1949 at Carnegie Hall shortly before he died of ALS on 6^th December of that year. Tom Paley of the New Lost City Ramblers performed at that 1949 concert and is the last man alive to have played with Lead Belly. Paley will return to the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall February 4.

Other performers include three-time GRAMMY winner Tom Chapin; Blues Music Award nominee Nick Moss with Michael Ledbetter, who is Lead Belly’s first cousin twice removed; two-time British Blues Award winner Laurence Jones; Josh White, Jr., (son of legendary folk singer Josh White who sang at Lead Belly’s funeral); Hot 100 Singles charting artist Ali Isabella, the “high-octane” (UNCUT) Walter Trout; NYC Blues Hall of Famer Sari Schorr; NYC’s very own Dana Fuchs; and NYC folk and blues artist and Village Voice cover story subject Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton; all playing with a house band led by Jon Cobert.

Lead Belly Fest sold out Royal Albert Hall this past June in a concert headlined by Van Morrison and received rave reviews:

“The stars came out to pay tribute in an incredible ensemble of talent. ‘Lead Belly Fest’ was, more than just a concert – it was a happening: without doubt one of the most diverse and authentic productions that this venerable hall has witnessed in many a year…”

- The London Times

A commemorative plaque to celebrate the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s longtime residence at 414 E. 10th Street, which became a hub of the folk revival, will be unveiled by a special guest at a ceremony to be announced in January.

Inspired by Lead Belly’s love of children, proceeds from the concert will go to NYC’s Association to Benefit Children (ABC). The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) is dedicated to bringing joy and warmth to disadvantaged children and their families through compassionate, sustainable, comprehensive and integrated services, designed to permanently break the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness and homelessness.

ABC’s humane and innovative programs today include early childhood education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, educational advocacy, housing assistance, mental health services, family support and preservation, crisis intervention, therapeutic out-of-school and summer day camp programs, youth leadership development and mentoring.

Project A.L.S. was founded in 1998, as a non-profit 501(c)3, when Jenifer Estess, a 35-year-old New York theater and film producer, was diagnosed with ALS. Told at the time of diagnosis to “max out her credit cards and eat junk food,” Jenifer instead committed her efforts to making a difference for people with ALS—and producing treatments and a cure.

Project A.L.S. identifies and funds the most promising scientific research that will lead to the first effective treatments and a cure for ALS. The new paradigm for brain disease research, Project A.L.S. recruits the world’s best scientists and doctors to work together rationally and aggressively toward a better understanding of the ALS disease process and, in parallel, better therapeutic strategies.

Tickets go on sale today and start at $40 at carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, Box Office at 57th and Seventh.

CITY WINERY TO HOST LEAD BELLY FEST DECEMBER 8 WITH WALTER TROUT, TOM CHAPIN & JON COBERT, DANA FUCHS, AND MORE

CONCERT TRIBUTE TO LEAD BELLY PREVIEWS FEB 4, 2016 CARNEGIE HALL EXTRAVAGANZA

CHARITY CONCERT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NYC’S ASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN (ABC), PROJECT ALS, AND SHOOTING STAR CHASE

“The stars came out to pay tribute in an incredible ensemble of talent. ‘Lead Belly Fest’ was, more than just a concert – it was a happening: without doubt one of the most diverse and authentic productions that this venerable hall has witnessed in many a year…” - The London Times

Lead Belly Fest will make its American debut after a sold out show at Royal Albert Hall this summer as Walter Trout, Dana Fuchs, Sari, Ali Isabella, and Tom Chapin & Jon Cobert take the City Winery stage December 8 to pay tribute to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. This show will preview a larger concert at Carnegie Hall, which will take place in 2016. Click here for a playlist of artists performing at City Winery’s Lead Belly Fest.

+ Revitalized after a liver transplant, the “high octane” (UNCUT) Walter Trout is a veteran of Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Guitar World premiered his new song “Almost Gone” from his recent release ‘Battle Scars.’ Trout previously performed at Royal Albert Hall’s inaugural Lead Belly Fest this summer.

+ Tom Chapin and Jon Cobert will perform together. The NY Times has called three-time GRAMMY winner Chapin “one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music,” continuing, “Warm spirit, infectious humor, and sensitive satiric songs.” Jon Cobert has recorded and played with John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Al Green.

+ Just 19 years of age, Ali Isabella has already captivated the world, with singles in the top 20 on both the Hotdisc chart in the UK and on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart. She reached #1 on the Billboard Country Hot Single Sales chart as well, appearing on FOX 5 Morning TV show Good Day New York and on FUSE News TV and opening at Wembley Arena in London for Reba McEntire and Lonestar.

+ New Yorker Dana Fuchs’ latest album ‘Songs From the Road’ was recorded at NYC’s Highline Ballroom. A live show by the Dana Fuchs Band is an assault on all the senses. UK’s Classic Rock Magazine, who famously declared Dana’s voice as “juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger and a cigarette butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon.”

+ New York Blues Hall of Fame singer and songwriter Sari is a tornado with blues in her blood. She took the international blues scene by storm as the powerhouse lead vocalist for Blues Hall of Fame guitarist Joe Louis Walker. Sari has appeared on CONAN. Most notable is her work on “Toast to Freedom” for Amnesty International, where she collaborated with many musical legends including Warren Haynes, Levon Helm, Keb Mo’, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithful, Rosanne Cash, Donald Fagan, Eric Burdon, and Carly Simon.

Inspired by Lead Belly’s love of children, proceeds from the concert will go to NYC’s Association to Benefit Children (ABC). The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) is dedicated to bringing joy and warmth to disadvantaged children and their families through compassionate, sustainable, comprehensive and integrated services, designed to permanently break the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness and homelessness.

ABC’s humane and innovative programs today include early childhood education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, educational advocacy, housing assistance, mental health services, family support and preservation, crisis intervention, therapeutic out-of-school and summer day camp programs, youth leadership development and mentoring.

Project A.L.S. was founded in 1998, as a non-profit 501(c)3, when Jenifer Estess, a 35-year-old New York theater and film producer, was diagnosed with ALS. Told at the time of diagnosis to “max out her credit cards and eat junk food,” Jenifer instead committed her efforts to making a difference for people with ALS—and producing treatments and a cure.

Project A.L.S. identifies and funds the most promising scientific research that will lead to the first effective treatments and a cure for ALS. The new paradigm for brain disease research, Project A.L.S. recruits the world’s best scientists and doctors to work together rationally and aggressively toward a better understanding of the ALS disease process and, in parallel, better therapeutic strategies.

Shooting Star Chase is a leading children’s hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months or years, Shooting Star is there to make every moment count. It supports families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

WHO: Walter Trout, Tom Chapin & Jon Cobert, Dana Fuchs, Sari, Ali Isabella

WHAT: Lead Belly Fest at City Winery

WHEN: 10pm, December 8, 2015

WHERE: City Winery, 155 Varick St, NYC

TICKETS: $22-30 via City Winery or here

Lead Belly Fest at Carnegie Hall photos

 Above: Lead Belly, courtesy Lead Belly: A Life In Pictures

above: Lead Belly, photo by Van Fisher

  Lead Belly, courtesy Lead Belly: A Life In Pictures

Eric Burdon (of the Animals), credit: Marianna Burdon

Tom Paley (of the New Lost City Ramblers) and Ben Paley at Royal Albert Hall

Above: Dom Flemons, Credit: Michael Weintrob

Above: Ali Isabella

Above: Guy Davis, credit: Joe Rosen 

Above: John Davis, credit: John Halpern

Above: Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Credit: Greg Logan

 

Above: Walter Trout

 Above: Dana Fuchs

Above:  Dana Fuchs

Above: Sari

Above: Edgar Winter

Above: Marky Ramone, by Martin Bonetto

Above: Josh White, Jr.

Lead Belly bio

"No Lead Belly, no Beatles." - George Harrison

Huddie Ledbetter, better known to the music world as “Lead Belly” was born January 20, 1889, in Mooringsport, Louisiana (near Shreveport). Lead Belly was the only child of Wesley and Sally Ledbetter. Lead Belly first tried his hand at playing music when he was only two yearsold. As a young man he was introduced to the guitar by his uncle Terrell Ledbetter and from that moment on he was transfixed by the guitar. He mastered that instrument and just about any instrument helaid his hands on, later learning to read music and to play the accordion, mandolin and piano. It has been said that one day Lead Belly witnessed a Mexican guitarist playing the twelve string guitar which struck hisinterest in mastering the unusual instrument.

After the 8th grade, he quit school and, by the time he was 14 yearsold, he was a popular musician and singer in the weekend “sukey jumps” and “juke joints.” He later became known as the king of the twelve-string guitar and his Stella brand guitar became his ticket to life and to his freedom. 

This love of music led him to leave his father’s farm at an early age to pursue his music. Huddie traveled the southwest playing his guitar and working as a laborer when he had to. He was and incredible strong man and was renowned for for picking 1,000lbs of cotton a day.

Lead Belly once said, "When I play, the women would come around to listen and their men would get angry." In 1918, he fought and killed a man in Dallas and was sentenced to thirty years in the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. In 1925, he wrote a song asking Governor Pat Neff for a pardon. Neff, who had promised at his election never to pardon a prisoner. Incredibly, Neff broke his promise and set Lead Belly free. Back on the road with many new songs he had learned or written at Huntsville, Huddie again found enthusiastic audiences throughout the south. But, as the center of admiring crowds, he was again the target of envy and jealousy. In 1930, after a fight at a party, which was normal in the Jim Crow south he was sentenced to another prison term, this time in the infamous Angola Farm prison plantation in Louisiana. In a way, this was a stroke of luck, because he was discovered there by folklorists John and his son Alan Lomax, who were recording prison songs for the Library of Congress. 

John Lomax and his son Alan later brought Lead Belly to New York where he played on college campuses like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and NYU. Shortly thereafter Lead Belly relocated to New York, where he forged a reputation on the folk circuit, making personal appearances, recording for a variety of labels and doing radio work. He was received with great acclaim. The New York Herald Tribune greeted his arrival with an article under the headline “Lomax Arrives with Lead Belly, Negro Minstrel.” In 1935, he married Martha Promise, with whom he would live until his death.

In the early ‘40s he performed with Josh White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Woody Guthrie, often hosting sessions in his apartment on E. 10th Street; often, he would play for the children in Tompkins Square Park. He would also babysit and perform for his nephew. He performed as such distinguished venues as Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and the Village Vanguard as well as hosting the WNYC radio show Folk Songs of America, all while wearing his trademark suit, handkerchief, and bow tie.

In 1948, Lead Belly cut what would later become known as his Last Sessions. His songs could not be put into one category. He wrote children’s songs, field songs, ballads, square dance songs, prison songs, folk songs, and blues.

Lead Belly enjoyed national recognition as a blues and folk musician and singer. Lead Belly felt his music and talent were gifts from God. 

During a European of 1949 Lead Belly fell ill and tests revealed that he was suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This disease destroyed all the muscles in his bodygiving him little opportunity to play the guitar without pain.

Prior to his death at Bellevue Hospital on December 6,1949, Lead Belly played at a show at Carnegie Hall which was organized by Pete Seeger. On the bill were Woodie Guthrie and Tom Paley. Lead Belly sang “Goodnight, Irene”. This was his last ever live performance.

Lead Belly never got to fully enjoy the fruits ofhis music. Lead Belly's song catalog consisted of well over 500 songs: most famous were Midnight Special, Goodnight Irene, Rock Island Line, Pick a Bale of Cotton and Take This Hammer.

After Lead Belly’s death, the Weavers, featuring Pete Seeger, recorded their version of “GoodNight, Irene” which went to number 1 on the charts. That song sold a million copies. 

Lead Belly’s music has had an unparalleled influence on some of the greatest musicians of all time. Artists like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Little Richard, John Fogerty, Roger Daltrey and Van Morrison have all expressed their reverence of Lead Belly’s music. 

As Van Morrison said: “Lead Belly wasn’t an influence, he was the influence.”

Lead Belly is remembered not only as a musical giant but a legend in his own right throughout the world. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, they describe him as:

“Huddie Ledbetter, better known to the world as “Lead Belly,” survived a life that included brutalizing poverty and long stretches in prison to become an emblematic folk singer and musician.”

THE AMERICAN SONGSTER DOM FLEMONS TO HOST LEAD BELLY TRIBUTE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER, FEATURING ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS

Dom Flemons – a founding member of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops – has been announced as the host of “Lead Belly at 125: A Tribute to an American Songster,” a one-night-only show taking place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on April 25 at 8:00pm.

The show, which is produced by the Kennedy Center and the GRAMMY Museum, features Flemons as master of ceremonies for a star-studded lineup of talented artists, including Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, and Valerie June.

Huddie Ledbetter, or Lead Belly as he was known, is a folk blues legend who has influenced countless artists from Nirvana to Led Zeppelin. He ranks among other pillars of American folk music such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

 “Lead Belly showed me there was a strong secular black folk song repertoire, separate from the blues,” Flemons says. He continues, “Lead Belly’s legacy can show us something that is truly human in music. I’m honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to someone who has had such a strong influence on me.”

Lead Belly has received newfound attention this year with the release of “Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection” box set and documentary film “Legend of Lead Belly,” which has aired on the Smithsonian Channel.

Flemons pulls from traditions of old-time folk music to create new sounds. Having played music professionally since 2005, he received acclaim, including a GRAMMY win and nomination, as part of the African American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops. His most recent album, “Prospect Hill,” his first since leaving the group, has received praise from The Boston Globe, Paste Magazine, and Living Blues Magazine, and he has been featured on NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.”

Event link here.

THE NICK MOSS BAND GETS A BOOST FROM LEAD BELLY'S OPERA-TRAINED COUSIN

NEW ALBUM 'TIME AIN'T FREE' OUT MARCH 18 ON BLUE BELLA RECORDS, MARKED BY SYNDICATED RADIO SEGMENT

BILLBOARD: "MOSS REACHES DEEPER INTO SOUL, FUNK, AND ROCK 'N' ROLL"

'Time Ain't Free,' the new album from the Nick Moss Band, marks a culmination of the band's new sound, a hard-driving album of soul music, blues, funk, gospel, southern rock, rhythm & blues and boogie sounds. Explosive second lead vocalist and guitarist Michael Ledbetter – who has added to the new sound Moss has carved out for his band– is first cousin twice removed to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Lead Belly.

Raised in Chicago, IL on the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and B.B. King, he enjoyed a strong, eight-year career in the Chicago opera community before joining the Nick Moss Band in 2011. Moss offered a touring spot in the band after Ledbetter's impressive performance on the popular single "It'll Turn Around" (from 2011's Here I Am), as well as background vocal overdubs on many songs on that release, which reached #2 on the Relix/Jamband Radio Chart in 2012. The band—with Leadbetter in it--would go on to perform "It'll Turn Around" to a standing ovation at The 34th Annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis, TN.

He says, "They seem like very independent kinds of music, but my favorite artists and singers – whether they are blues, soul, or opera – were the most passionate singers: the ones where the passion just flowed from their voices."

Does Lead Belly inspire his current singing? He exclaims, "It's hard not to be inspired by all of his work! I just try to do the Ledbetter name justice in what I do."

'Time Ain't Free' marks the first album of his tenure as bandleader in which Moss shares the lead vocals, as well as some of the songwriting. Ledbetter says, "Nick Moss is an excellent teacher. It's a blessing to have that kind of motivation on stage and in the studio. I wrote four songs on the album. This was my first time singing lead and playing on an album so the whole thing was a crash course for me but the band was a well-oiled machine!"

He reflects, "My favorite song on the album is 'I Want The World To Know.' It's the most personal song I've ever written and, because of that, I was able to put just a little bit more of my heart and soul into my vocals. I'm very proud of that tune." Billboard agreed, posting the song as a track premiere, saying, "Moss reaches deeper into soul, funk and rock 'n' roll on Time Ain’t Free."

An interview on syndicated radio show Elwood's Blues Mobile will air around 'Time Ain't Free's' release.

"EXCELLENT" (ALL MUSIC GUIDE) SONGWRITER, GUITAR MAN, & TOP TEN RELIX/JAMBAND RADIO TOP TEN ARTIST THE NICK MOSS BAND TO PLAY NYC'S SLAKE DECEMBER 20

The Nick Moss Band — "an artist with important things to tell us," according to Blue Revue Magazine, on which he has appeared on the cover – will perform at NYC's Slake December 20 in anticipation of a new album 'Time Ain't Free' due in March, 2014. The Nick Moss Band's Here I Am album debuted at #2 on the Relix/Jamband Radio Charts in 2012. Moss' new song "I Want The World To Know" recently premiered at Billboard.com.

The Nick Moss Band features second guitarist and vocalist Michael Ledbetter, a descent of Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. An electrifying new talent, Ledbetter will be making his recorded debut on guitar and vocals on the forthcoming Moss album. The Slake show will find the Nick Moss Band hitting on all cylinders, hot off of a 36-date headlining tour.

The Nick Moss Band has been compared to Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Gary Clark Jr. Downbeat said, "He sings with confidence and heats up his guitar with enough imagination to transcend." All Music Guide has praised Moss' music as "memorable… played with spirit, drive, and swing."

Having spent time in the bands of blues legends Jimmy Dawkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (The Legendary Blues Band), and Jimmy Rogers, Moss started his career in the deep Chicago blues tradition.

WHO: The Nick Moss Band

WHAT: Headlining concert and preview of 'Time Ain't Free'

WHEN: 7pm, December 20, 2013

WHERE: Slake, 251 W 30th St, NYC

TICKETS: $12 via TicketWeb.com

WITH NEW ALBUM COMING IN SPRING, THE NICK MOSS BAND ANNOUNCES 36-DATE TOUR

"EXCELLENT" (ALL MUSIC GUIDE) SONGWRITER, GUITAR MAN, & 16-TIME BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINEE STRETCHES HIS LEGS

The Nick Moss Band — "an artist with important things to tell us," according to Blue Revue Magazine, on which he has appeared on the cover – has announced a 36-date fall tour in anticipation of a new album due in the spring of 2014. Moss is a 16-time Blues Music Award nominee and a 3-time Blue Blast Award Winner. Moss continually tops the Living Blues Radio charts, and even debuted at #2 on the Relix/Jamband Radio Charts in 2012 with Here I Am.

To hear upcoming single "Was I Ever Heard," please click here.

Having spent time in the bands of blues legends Jimmy Dawkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (The Legendary Blues Band), and Jimmy Rogers, Moss has been schooled in the deep Chicago blues tradition. He has also produced the Midnight Blues album by the late Magic Slim. Once a blues purist, Moss has more recently widened his scope, stretching himself and challenging his devoted audience with ingredients from soul music, rhythm and blues, funk, and a little bit of rock and roll. All Music Guide has praised Moss' music as "memorable… played with spirit, drive, and swing."

The Nick Moss Band features second guitarist and vocalist Michael Ledbetter, a descendant of Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. An electrifying new talent, Ledbetter will be making his recorded lead vocal debut on the forthcoming Moss album.

Nick Moss Band Fall Tour Dates

September 14 - Chicago, IL - Honky Tonk BBQ
September 20 - Elgin, IL - Danny’s
September 21 - Murphysboro, IL - Murphysboro Riverside Blues Festival
October 5 - Vernon Hills, IL - Philly G’s
October 8 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
October 18 - Osteroy, Poland - Jimiway Festival
October 19 - Finnsnes, Norway - Otto’s
October 26 - Chicago, IL - Smoke Daddy
October 31 - Lincoln, NE - Zoo Bar
November 1 - Littleton, CO - Toad Tavern
November 2 - Woodland Park, CO - Crystola Roadhouse
November 4 - Salt Lake City, UT - Sun and Moon Café
November 5 - Salt Lake City, UT - Sun and Moon Café
November 6 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
November 7 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey’s
November 8 - Ventura, CA - Yolie’s
November 9 - Arcadia, CA - Arcadia Blues Club
November 10 - Oroville, CA - Feather Falls Casino
November 13 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Pocket
November 14 - San Francisco, CA - Biscuits and Blues
November 15 - Phillipsville, CA - Riverwood Inn
November 16 - Nevada City, CA - Crazy Horse
November 17 - Folsom, CA - Powerhouse Pub
November 20 - Portland, OR - Duff’s Garage
November 22 - Tacoma, WA - Jazzbones
November 23 - Seattle, WA - Hwy 99 Blues Club
November 26 - Lincoln, NE - Zoo Bar
November 27 - Sioux Falls, SD - Old Skoolz
November 29 - Chicago, IL - Double Door w The Steepwater Band
December 6 - Atlanta, GA - Blind Willie’s
December 7 - Tallahassee, FL - Bradfordville Blues Club
December 10 - Delray Beach, FL - Boston’s on the Beach
December 11 - Key Largo, FL - Bayside Grille & Sunset Bar
December 14 - Tampa, FL - Skipper’s
December 15 - Sebastian, FL - Earl’s Hideaway
December 17 - St. Georges, DE - The Country Store

PAUL RISHELL LAUNCHES BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC COUNTRY BLUES PROGRAM AS VISITING ARTIST/PROFESSOR

NEW ALBUM 'TALKING GUITAR' (MAY 8 / MOJO RODEO) ALSO SERVES AS PRIMER FOR STUDENTS

Paul Rishell – the blues master with the 45+ year career who is returning to the songs that originally inspired him on 'Talking Guitar' (May 8 / Mojo Rodeo) – has been sharing his deep knowledge of pre-war country blues styles with a new generation as a Visiting Artist at Berklee College of Music, alongside fellow Visiting Artist/Professor Woody Mann.

He says, "We talk about how country blues has been an influence on popular music ever since it became a recorded art form. I also teach how to listen to the recordings and pick out the guitar parts, the tunings, and which strings to use. Some of the techniques would be difficult to notate, so they need to be demonstrated."

Of his own learning process, he says, "I've been fascinated with Leadbelly's 'Fannin' Street' for years. Like all the country blues masters, he came up with a unique way of playing the guitar. It took 50 years of it being in my head before I got to the place where I could perform it well enough to record it. I was re-stringing the guitar one day and it was tuned down to B, which made it sound like a 12-string, so it made me think of that song and I started fooling around with it." Hear Rishell's version of "Fannin' Street'": http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.com/2012/03/paul-rishell-mp3.html

In 2011, Berklee's American Roots Music Program launched the Robert Davoli - Eileen McDonagh Country Blues Visiting Artist Program. Now Rishell is passing on lessons he learned by getting to know elders like Son House and Howlin' Wolf. "It's a wonderful opportunity to expose people to this music in depth, to help them discover all the great musicans and stories that make up the world of country blues. I was attracted to the music at a very early age and it was always a source of great comfort and inspiration to me."

Early word on 'Talking Guitar' has been stellar. Living Blues called the music "exceptionally rendered prewar blues songs that retain the sound, and, more importantly, the spirit of the original artists," continuing, "Rishell has really mastered prewar blues—even his singing has an incredible ease and authenticity. For modern ears, the record makes the genre both fascinating and highly accessible… It’s often like Rishell is washing windows—letting in the sunlight and revealing the mystique of these early recordings… After hearing Paul Rishell’s blues, you’ll have a hard time denying the power of such bare, organic, and emotive sound."

LONGTIME CANTABRIDGIAN BLUESMAN PAUL RISHELL TO PERFORM AT ALBUM RELEASE CELEBRATION MAY 6 AT TEMPLE ISAIAH IN LEXINGTON AND CATERED BY BLUE RIBBON BB

ACOUSTIC GUITAR SHARES FIRST MP3 FROM 'TALKING GUITAR,' OUT MAY 8

Longtime Cantabridgian and Blues Music Award winner Paul Rishell, who sat in with Howlin' Wolf at a club in Inman Square in the '70s and is a patriarch of the Boston blues and folk scenes, will celebrate the release of his new album 'Talking Guitar' (May 8 / Mojo Rodeo Records) with a concert May 6 at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, MA. Rishell will be joined by longtime musical partner Annie Raines on harmonica, Jesse Williams (Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker) on bass, and other special guests to be announced. The event will kick off with a reception catered by Blue Ribbon Bar-B-Que

Acoustic Guitar Magazine , whose review of the album is forthcoming, shared the first mp3, a rendition of Lead Belly's "Fannin' Street (Mr. Tom Hughes Town").

'Talking Guitar' also sports interpretations of songs from the repertoires of Blues Hall of Famers Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and others in addition to two Rishell originals.

A Rishell guitar pupil, Susan Tedeschi recorded an "unplugged" version of Paul's "Blues on a Holiday" with Paul on guitar. With Raines, he has opened for Ray Charles, Asleep at the Wheel, Susan Tedeschi, Leon Russell, Dr. John, and John Sebastian. They were also featured members of the J Band, led by John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful.

WHO: Paul Rishell and Annie Raines
WHAT: Album release show for 'Talking Guitar'
WHERE: Temple Isaiah, 55 Lincoln Street, Lexington, MA
WHEN: 6pm, May 6, 2012
TICKETS: $20, via Brown Paper Tickets

PAUL RISHELL REFINES ORIGINAL INSPIRATION WHEN CREATING 'TALKING GUITAR,' OUT MAY 8 ON MOJO RODEO

MEETING SON HOUSE PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR FUTURE BLUES MUSIC AWARD-WINNER

When he was 13, Paul Rishell first heard Son House's "County Farm Blues." "It was a revelation. I didn’t know how old he was, but here was this guy who was an adult, and he was rocking out. He was not an old geezer. He wasn’t making Lawrence Welk music. He was playing Rock and Roll music. He was playing stuff with a beat and he was making the beat; he was the beat; he was the whole thing. I thought, 'Listen to this guy. He’s unbelievable; he’s like a whole band!'"

"Soon afterward, he heard Lead Belly's hard-driving "Fannin' Street (Mr. Tom Hughes' Town)." I wanted to learn it from the first time I heard it. But I had to get in shape to do it."

On his new album 'Talking Guitar,' he performs some of the songs that originally inspired him but which have taken a lifetime to master. "Most country blues records were compendiums then," he recalls, continuing, "It was rare to find an album by the more obscure artists like Scrapper Blackwell or Charley Patton. For years I thought Charley Patton only recorded one song, 'Hang it On the Wall,' because that was the one that showed up on all of the compilations."

An introduction to Son House facilitated by Dick Waterman furthered the young Rishell's growth: "I was blinded by sitting across from this guy. It was like meeting Abraham Lincoln. I shook the same hand that had shaken Charley Patton's hand. I asked him about his life. He told me about his travels, which included places as far-flung as California and Louisiana. At one point he worked in Algiers, Louisiana, picking the Spanish moss off of trees to fill mattresses."

Paul Rishell mp3

Paul Rishell bio

Paul Rishell, a W.C. Handy Award-winning singer, guitarist, songwriter, historian, and educator, has dedicated his life for the past half century to bringing recognition and respect to prewar blues, what he refers to as “the bedrock of all American music.” His latest album, “Talking Guitar,” (Mojo Rodeo, 2012) is his first solo project in 19 years and a reconnection with his Country Blues roots.

The album offers a powerful mix of songs from Blues Hall of Famers such as Leadbelly, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake and others. To round out the collection, “Talking Guitar” includes two original songs by Rishell. It also includes Annie Raines, his partner and critically acclaimed harmonica virtuoso, appearing on three songs, including "Big Road Blues" and the rousing original "I'm Gonna Jump and Shout."

Rishell’s original music has been used in plays, films, and countless television shows including Friends, Oprah, and A&E’s Biography. He and Raines have appeared on the cover of Blues Revue and performed on various radio and TV shows including A Prairie Home Companion, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and PBS’s Arthur. They received the W.C. Handy Award for Acoustic Blues Album of the Year in 2000 for “Moving to the Country” and earned two nominations for their albums “Goin’ Home”(2004) and “A Night in Woodstock” (2008). As a duo, Rishell & Raines have opened for Ray Charles, Asleep at the Wheel, Susan Tedeschi, Leon Russell, Little Feat, Dr. John, and John Sebastian. They were also featured members of the J Band, led by John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, and appear in the 2007 jug band music documentary, Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1950, Paul Rishell was named after his grandfather, a Methodist Minister who was pastor of the South Congregational Church. He moved around with his family to New Jersey, England, and finally Connecticut. There, at the age of 13, captivated by a recording of Son House singing “County Farm Blues,” Rishell began a lifelong study of the music and its progenitors. He moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in the early 1970’s and began to perform with and learn from blues greats such as Son House, Johnny Shines, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. He soon became a well-known blues artist in his own right headlining Boston-area clubs and opening for his musical heroes. “I loved them because they were all there for me on their records when I was a kid.” explains Rishell. “It made me feel better to listen to their music.”

His first albums, Blues on a Holiday (1990) and Swear to Tell the Truth (1993) received critical acclaim and launched Rishell’s career as a recording artist. “My first record was a dream come true - I began to dream about making records as soon as I started listening to them. Making a solo album feels good because I’m a much more seasoned person and musician and I feel like I’ve grown into this material. I was probably 13 when I first heard Leadbelly’s recording of Fannin’ Street but I was 61 when I recorded it. It took me 47 years to figure out how to play the thing.”

In 1992 Rishell met and partnered up with Annie Raines. Born in 1969, Raines began playing the blues harp at 17 and went on to play the New England club circuit with local bands, and traveled to Chicago where she met and played with many of her musical idols including Pinetop Perkins, Louis Myers, and James Cotton. She has been hailed by fans and peers as one of the world’s top blues harp players, but it is the duo’s chemistry that steals the show. As Jerome Clark of rambles.net explains, “…Paul Rishell and Annie Raines in stratospheric form, which means that some of the most satisfying blues around these days are wafting down on your head and into your being, courtesy of a partnership the theologically inclined may suspect to have been conceived in heaven…”

Though they always perform together, Raines encouraged Rishell to record a solo album. “I was making an instructional video for harmonica, and it was taking forever,” she said. “Meanwhile, I really wanted to hear Paul do more of that unadulterated, pure blues that he does like nobody else. I got to step back and watch his working process and appreciate all the amazing things he can do with his voice and his guitar. So many of these techniques are in danger of disappearing. And they’re part of what made blues such an influential music to begin with: songs that make you stop what you’re doing and say ‘What the hell is THAT?’”

Rishell recorded “Dirt Road Blues,”an instructional video of country blues songs (Truefire, 2008) and is currently serving as a Visiting Artist at Berklee College of Music. “Among other reasons, I made ‘Talking Guitar’ for a generation of kids who may not ever have had a chance to hear country blues.” In his 45 years as a performer, teacher, historian, and torchbearer of the country blues tradition, he has drawn students and professionals (including Susan Tedeschi and Michael Tarbox) who want to learn the techniques required to do justice to the originals and hear his first-hand accounts of meeting iconic prewar blues legends. Sometimes they just come to hear to him talk, about singing, about music, about history.

Rishell likes to point out that the music industry and blues music were rocked in the same cradle, as musicians, businessmen and electrical engineers were drawn together by opportunities to make a living off of an emerging technology. In his live shows, his historical narration is built on his fascination with the people on both sides of the microphone. He’ll often introduce a song by telling you it was recorded in August of 1929 in Memphis, that it was probably mighty hot in the studio and the engineers kept the wax mastering disc on ice until it was time to record, or that Charley Patton was recruited by one of the first A&R men, a storekeeper named H.C. Speir, or how during prohibition, when thirsty Americans turned to patent medicines, hair tonic or Sterno, Tommy Johnson fancied the latter so much he wrote the “Canned Heat Blues.” These are entertaining glimpses into the past, but Rishell has an uncanny ability to summon this lost world into the present when he touches the strings. Boston Phoenix writer Ted Drozdowski wrote, “Paul has reached a place as deep and resonant as Robert Johnson’s crossroads, where authenticity, soul and a sense of purpose ring out in every note he sings and plays.”