POSTPONED DUE TO SNOWPiedmont Blues with Harmonica!Phil Wiggins is DC-born and bred, with childhood summers in Alabama, where he absorbed the old-time hymns. As a young man he began playing harmonica, and mastered his craft working with noted Washington-area musicians Flora Molton, Mother Scott, Archie Edwards and John Jackson. He met blues guitarist and singer John Cephas at the 1976 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Soon after, they began making a name for themselves as an acoustic duo, playing the Piedmont style blues native to Virginia and North Carolina, mixed with Delta blues, gospel, ragtime, even country, and original songs. They played clubs and festivals across the US and toured the world for the State Department, including an appearance at the Russian Folk Festival in Moscow. Their recordings earned widespread recognition, including W.C. Handy Awards, which they also received as ?Blues Entertainers of the Year? (an award usually given to electric blues artists). Since John passed away last March, Phil has collaborated with a number of fine musicians. For this concert he?ll be at center stage, joined by Rick Franklin, guitarist/singer active nearly 30 years in the DC blues scene, and Mike Baytop, an active performer whose teachers included Archie Edwards and Richard "Mr. Bones" Thomas. They've both been active with the DC Blues Society and the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation.
Over the years, Phil has written a number of songs recorded by the duo (and others). He?s appeared in films, including documentaries and the award-winning Matewan. He served as artistic director of the 2007 Port Townsend Country (WA) Blues Festival. Scores of blues harp students have been captivated by the instrument and the music as they?ve been taught by Phil Wiggins, whether at intensive music camps or at informal workshops for local blues clubs.
What his students hear ? and what we?ll hear at this month?s program -- are harmonica techniques that go beyond what we heard from Sonny Terry, Little Walter or Junior Wells, because Phil Wiggins draws on sounds from the whole band -- from the piano to the horns.
Join us when we reschedule at the Washington Ethical Society Auditorium, 7750 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20012. General admission is $15, free to Folklore Society members.
This meeting would also have included an official membership meeting, with a invitation for FSGW board nominations.
An opportunity to nominate candidates from the floor for the 2010-2011 FSGW Board will be offered at the next official membership meeting on Saturday, March 13, 2010, at the concert featuring Andy Cohen, Eleanor Ellis, and Walter Liniger, at the Washington Ethical Society.
