Festival Musicians 2017

 

We are so excited to welcome music back to the festival in 2017!  During each of the breaks, on both Saturday and Sunday, there will be talented professional musicians playing on the music stage located on Vendor Row!  Please help us welcome Momma Molasses, Lakota John Last Time Around to the fesitval grounds on Saturday and Sunday.  The Saturday evening Meet the Tellers...and Musicians Gala will feature The Clay Brown Band!  You are going to love these singer songwriters as they share their stories in voice and instruments!

 

Momma Molasses 

Momma Molasses is a musical project created by N.C. based songwriter Ella Patrick. Originally from the Piedmont/Sandhills North Carolina, Ella grew up singing gospel songs in church and was inspired by her ballader Uncle to pick up the guitar. Her music naturally draws on a wide range of ideas, combining Alt-Country, blues, honky-folksy whatever into a sweet dripping, slow moving sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clay Brown and The Legends Band

Florence's Clay Brown and The Legends Band,  perform ’60s music at different locations across the Carolinas. They are known for their show, “An Evening of Soul ’60s.”  

By the age of five Clay Brown was showing his relatives how much he loved music. While they rehearsed their Southern gospel tunes at their Florence S.C. home, Clay hid under the bed and listened, taking it all in.

His brother encouraged him to join in the harmony, and from then on he was part of a trio harmonizing songs with groups like the Soul Stirrers and the Dixie Hummingbirds.

From those gospel beginnings it was a natural for Clay to begin singing rhythm and blues. Clay Brown and the Invaders was formed in 1967 with Clay as lead vocalist. In addition to recording, the group performed up and down the East coast before Clay made the decision to move to the Big Apple. In New York, Clay was vocalist with the Al Brown Orchestra, famous for entertaining at the Waldorf Astoria. 

Eventually moving back to South Carolina, Clay has performed with the likes of Bill Pinckney and the Original Drifters, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Sonny Turner of the Platters, The Lettermen, Ruth Brown, Billy Scott and the Sugarbees.

 

Lakota John

 Lakota John is an old soul with a love for the blues. From Robeson County, North Carolina and born in 1997,  John Lakota Locklear is no stranger to music. This Native American bottleneck slide player (Lumbee/Oglala Lakota) grew up listening to his dad’s music library.  At 7 years old, he picked up one of his Dad's old harmonicas and at age 9, his first guitar.  This lefty learned to play guitar in standard tuning and was intrigued by the sound of the slide guitar.  At age 10, he bought himself a glass slide, placed it on his pinky finger and he has been sliding over the frets ever since. 

 

Lakota John started performing in 2008 and has repeated performances at the NC Museum of History; The PineCone Music Series; Shakori Hills Music Festival; the North Carolina Indian Heritage Celebration; River People Culture and Music Festival and Southern Pines Blues Crawl. 

He is a 2015 NAMA Nominee (Native American Music Awards) and has opened up for or shared the stage with Native American Blues Artist, Pura Fe;  Blues icon, Taj Mahal; Native blues rocker, Keith Secola; Scott Ainslie, Blues Historian and Musician;  Cary Morin, Native American Blues Guitarist; the Jeff Sipe Trio;  Legendary Bluesman Mr. John Dee Holeman and the South Carolina "Blues Doctor" Mr. Drink Small.