Sam Chatmon

Sam Chatmon (January 10 1897 - February 2 1983), was a guitarist and singer.

 Life and career 
Chatmon was born in Bolton, Mississippi.

 Early life 
Chatmon had a very musical family, all of them lived in Mississippi. Two of Sam's brothers, fiddler Lonnie Chatmon and guitarist Bo Carter, performed with guitarist Walter Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks. Chatmon himself was a member of the family's string band when he was young. He performed all the time for white audiences in the 1900s.

 Music style 
The Chatmon band played:
 Ragtime
 Ballads
 Popular dance tunes.

 Instruments played 
Chatmon played the banjo, mandolin, harmonica and the guitar. He played at parties and on street corners in Mississippi for money and tips. In the 1930s he recorded songs with his brothers.

 Later life 
Chatmon moved to Hollandale, Mississippi in the early 1940s and worked on plantations in Hollandale. He started playing again in 1960, playing mostly blues music. In the same year, he recorded songs for Arhoolie Records. He went on tours in the 1960s and 1970s and played for many festivals such as the Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. in 1972, the Mariposa Fest in Toronto in 1974, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1976.

Timeline
 1897 - Born in Bolton, Mississippi
 1900 - Played for white audiences
 1930 - Recorded with the Sheiks, Lonnie and the Chatman Brothers
 1940 - Moved to Hollandale, Mississippi, to work on plantations
 1960 - Rediscovered as a folk-blues artist, he also recorded for the Arhoolie Label
 1970 - Performed with Fingers Taylor on The Blues Caravan
 1972 - Played many of his largest and best-known folk festivals
 1974 - Played the Mariposa Fest in Toronto
 1976 - Played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
 1983 - Died

References

 Other websites 
 Illustrated Sam Chatmon discography
 Sam Chatmon biography at the All Music Guide website

Category:Blues musicians
Category:Singers from Mississippi
Category:Musicians from Mississippi
Category:American guitarists
Category:1879 births
Category:1983 deaths