Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters are just a few of the great female vocalists from the 1920s that helped put blues music on the map. By the 1930s, the genre was dominated by male guitar players with powerful vocals of their own. The guitar, an instrument typically associated with men, quickly became a symbol of the blues – and the role of blues women just as quickly diminished. In this presentation, the contributions of early female blues guitar players will be highlighted.

Valerie Turner, the guitar playing half of the Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo, discusses the life and times of several notable early blues women who used guitars to make their mark on the blues genre. Valerie has studied their music deeply and will perform examples representing each artist highlighted.