The Marianna Black Library, in Bryson City, hosts an evening of acoustic country blues presented by Heidi Holton on Thursday, August 24th, at 7:00 PM.
When you think of the blues - real blues - you think of the Delta, and names like Lightning Hopkins, Robert Johnson and the Reverend Gary Davis… grizzled old men with hands like a pair of ancient snakeskin boots, bent from trials only they could know. What you don’t think of, what you don’t expect, is a woman named Heidi. That’s about to change. Heidi Holton is turning heads with her unique take on one of America’s oldest popular musical traditions. At once authentic and yet utterly new, her take on blues standards such as Baby Please Don’t Go and Statesboro Blues is nothing short of a revelation. Her tasteful originals shine just as brightly, seemingly both familiar and fresh.
Holton started young as a musician, leaving western North Carolina to play in rock bands in Athens, GA and New Orleans, before the blues called and she answered. It wasn't long before people began to take notice, including blues woman and national treasure Rory Block, who has produced Holton’s sophomore release “Why Mama Cries.” Popular demand keeps Heidi busy, playing about 150 shows a year to a wide variety of audiences. She has opened for notorious bluesman Roy Bookbinder and slide guitar hero Tommy Talton, and has become a regular performer at the Arts and Minds Festival at the Fur Peace Ranch.
Join Heidi on her journey as she answers the call to tend an eternal flame that will set the hearts of the next generation of blues fans ablaze. The library is located in Downtown Bryson City at the corner of Academy and Rector. For more information or driving directions call the library at (828) 488-3030 or visit fontanalib.org/brysoncity.