When John Dee Holeman
Plays The Blues
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Every dog crawling ache, empty tank, flat tire.
Each gold tipped lie on a sweet pink tongue.
Every no account boss, lost house, lost job.
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Each blue sky friend, slammed door,
poison pen. All the lock jaw, rusty bucket,
soul sucking, rock crushing minutes.
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Every shit upon, mud stomped,
bone throbbing, trespassing,
tread flapping, sweaty eyed day.
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Every down-to-the-last
of everything
blues.
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It all rises up
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from his fingertips
on soft low notes—
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a whirlwind of humanity
humming its way to heaven,
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covered in cornbread,
grits and gravy
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and makes me feel
so fine.
-Julie Buffaloe-Yoder
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I LOVE this one! Turn it up.
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Awesome
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This summer, I had the privilege of seeing John Dee Holeman and several other blues greats in concert, thanks to Music Maker Relief Foundation. The concert was FREE!
I didn’t list all the performers’ names in the title of my poem (it would be way too long), but they are all among my favorites.
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Music Maker Relief Foundation supports talented (and often forgotten) Southern musicians with grants for day-to-day living, career advancement, and promotion of their music.
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Thanks to the support of MMRF, musicians have traveled throughout the world to share their talents.
Recently, Carolina Chocolate Drops was nominated for a grammy!
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Recipients of grants from MMRF must
*Be rooted in a Southern musical tradition.
*Make less than $18,000 a year.
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Many of the MMRF musicians are from an older generation that I love and adore. John Dee Holeman was born in 1929.
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Benton Flippen, an amazing fiddler, was born in 1920. I’ve been told that Benton is still going strong. I can’t wait to see him perform.
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But they are all great. Be sure to check them out. You can browse the list of artists and listen to samples of their music or order CD’s, etc. You can also donate directly to MMRF. If you have a few bucks to send their way, the information is HERE.
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Christmas is coming, so I must also throw out a subtle hint to my daughter about WHAT I WOULD LOVE FOR A GIFT. 😀
Only twelve bucks! Put “To Dad and Mom” on the package, and it’s six bucks apiece.
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Music Maker Relief Foundation helps preserve the music, history and culture of Southern music. They help many talented musicians. But they also help people like me, who just love and appreciate great music.
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It was an experience I’ll never forget.
It’s also Reason #590 why I love Carolina. John Dee Holeman will be playing again soon.
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The Buffaloe Pen 