These national treasures all have amazing stories to tell. We consider it a privilege to be there for them after all the times their music has been there for us.
—Wendy Oxenhorn
70-Year-Old Phenomenon to Electrify New York City August 21-23
NEW YORK CITY - On Friday, August 21st, 70-year-old Atlanta-based blues singer/songwriter/guitarist Beverly “Guitar" Watkins will play a special performance at the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls (WMRC) in DUMBO, Brooklyn. She will demonstrate her signature behind-the-head guitar playing technique for an audience of approximately 90 girls, ranging in age from 8 to 18, who have come together for a week-long summer camp where they learn to play musical instruments, form bands, write original songs, create their own logos & t-shirts, and generally rock out. Watkins will personally engage with the campers in a Q&A session after her performance and also be a special guest in the “Women Who Rock" and “Women In Music Business Panel" workshops.
Watkins began her own incredible musical journey at the age of eight, learning to play guitar from her aunts and accompanying her grandfather at community barn dances. Her professional career began when she was still a teenager with bandleader Piano Red whom she toured with regionally and nationally opening for the likes of James Brown and Ray Charles.
It wasn't until she reached the tender age of 60 that her solo debut album Back In Business was released as part of the Music Maker Relief Foundation series and received a 2000 W.C. Handy Blues Award nomination. Her second album The Feelings of... came in 2005, followed by Don't Mess with Miss Watkins in 2007.
Blues writer Sandra Pointer-Jones calls Watkins “a pyrotechnic guitar maven whose searing, ballistic attacks on the guitar have become allegorical tales within the blues community."
In Ms. Watkins' own words: “When I get on stage, it's electrifying. I light up and get into the crowd. That's what I call ministering to the public."
Watkins' appearance at WMRC is made possible by the Jazz Foundation of America's Agnes Varis Jazz in the Schools Program which creates paid employment for elder, notable jazz and blues artists with limited incomes and exposes younger generations of children to jazz and blues music and history. It also keeps hundreds of these pioneers from eviction and homelessness.
“These national treasures all have amazing stories to tell. We consider it a privilege to be there for them after all the times their music has been there for us," says Wendy Oxenhorn, Executive Director of the Jazz Foundation.
While Ms. Watkins is in NYC, she will also be sitting in on two sets with bandleader Jimmy Norman, another legendary musician who works with the Jazz Foundation, at Roth's Westside Steakhouse on Saturday night, August 22nd.
She will also be making a special guest appearance at Lincoln Center Out of Doors: 26th Annual Roots of American Music, a free concert series on Sunday, August 23rd. She will sit in with the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra during their tribute to the late folk singer Odetta, who was also helped by the Jazz Foundation. When Odetta broke her hip and couldnt tour, the Jazz Foundation made sure she was able to keep her home through its Musicians' Emergency Fund.
Schedule for Beverly “Guitar" Watkins NYC Weekend
Friday, Aug 21st @12:30pm
Willie Mae Rock Camp: Urban Assembly School of Music; 49 Flatbush Ave Extension; DUMBO, Brooklyn (Not open to public)
Sat, Aug 22nd @9:00 & 10:30pm
Roth's Westside Steakhouse with Jimmy Norman (2 sets); 680 Columbus Ave at 93rd St. Upper West Side, NYC; FREE
Sunday, August 23rd @4:00pm
Lincoln Center Out of Doors: 26th Annual Roots of American Music with Black Rock Coalition Orchestra; Damrosch Park Bandshell at Lincoln Center; FREE
Listen to Beverly “Guitar" Watkins recordings
About The Jazz Foundation of America
The Jazz Foundation of America is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping elderly and established jazz and blues musicians in times of crisis through various programs and services including The Musicians' Emergency Fund, a partnership with Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, and the Agnes Varis Jazz in the Schools program. The Jazz Foundation has handled over 5,000 musician emergency cases since Katrina alone and averages 1,600 cases a year.
To make a donation, you can do so online.
About Willie Mae Rock Camp
Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit music and mentoring program that empowers girls and women through music education and activities that foster self-respect, leadership skills, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. The organization operates a summer day camp, after school programs, and community events in New York City, serving more than 500 girls and women each year.
