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3 months ago
The Etta Baker Memorial is on the CoMMA Performing Arts Campus in Morganton, NC. The bronze memorial was dedicated in 2017 to the Piedmont blues guitarist and Morganton resident. The performing arts center has plenty of free parking, and the memorial is located to the left of the building. Thomas Jay Warren was the sculptor for the bronze monument. The bronze sculpture has Miss Etta sitting and strumming her guitar. As an added touch for the memorial, her rose bushes were planted around the monument. Etta Baker played the guitar for almost 90 years, leaving her mark on the folk revival in the 1960s and inspiring other artists like Bob Dylan and Taj Mahal. She was initially taught by her dad, Boone Reid. He started teaching her when she was 2. Since she was too small to hold the guitar, it was laid flat on a bed, and she was taught where to place her fingers. As she grew, he taught her about the intricacies of mountain music and the blues. Her signature style was the two-finger picking, using her thumb for the bassline and her index finger for the melody. In 1936, she moved to Morganton, and she raised nine children. While she performed less publicly to focus on her family and job at Skyline Textile Company, she played and practiced every day. She was discovered while on vacation at Cone Mansion in Blowing Rock. Her father asked other folk artists to listen to her play. The chance encounter led to her recordings. Her first record was recorded in 1956, and she was given a $1.25 contract. She wasn't properly compensated for decades for "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians". In 1991, she received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She released albums later in life, including "One Dime Blues," and also collaborated with Taj Mahal. Etta kept touring and playing festivals into her 90's. read more
