The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is proud to present “African Roots of the Banjo,” a lecture by Dr. Cece Conway, followed by a concert with the renowned Blind Boy Paxton. The lecture and concert is part of the Lift Every Voice Series happening this fall at the museum. The event takes place on Monday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m. and admission is free, however, you will need to reserve a seat to be guaranteed admission.
Dr. Cece Conway is a Professor of Appalachian Literature & Culture at Appalachian State University. Her academic specialty is folklore and the roots of mountain music, African roots of the banjo, and ballad keepers. In 2014 Conway received the appointment Alan Lomax Fellow with the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress.
Although only in his 20s, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920s and making them wish they could stay there for good. Paxton sings and plays banjo, guitar, accordion, and the bones and has the eerie ability to transform traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now.
Paxton has performed to a sold-out audience for the Lead Belly Tribute at Carnegie Hall earlier this year along with the likes of Buddy Guy, Eric Burdon, Dom Flemons, Tom Paley, and others. He has been nominated for an inaugural International Folk Music Award in the category of Artist of the Year. Attendees of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion may remember Paxton’s striking performances at the annual music festival back in 2014. Paxton will be a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, October 7-9, 2016.