John Dee Holeman
Piedmont blues de Caroline du Nord
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Details: Audio CD, 1992, Produced and Recorded by Alan Govenar
John Dee Holeman is a master of the African American musical traditions of the Piedmont region, a chain of foothills that runs between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain, from Virginia through North and South Carolina and Georgia down to Florida. In this area of the United States was a thriving string-band tradition among both blacks and whites. The guitar blues of John Dee Holeman was shaped by the sound of the banjo and by the music he heard growing up. Overall, these recordings are representative of Holeman's repertoire and consist primarily of traditional arrangements. Only one song, "Chapel Hill Boogie, is an original Holeman composition. He attributes the other songs to Blind Boy Fuller, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Arthur Crudup and others, who were all influential in his development as a musician. Although his exposure to these musicians was largely through their records, Holeman personalizes their songs with his own distinctive Piedmont style of performance. This compact disc was produced by Alan Govenar and, funded by Documentary Arts, Inc.
