Ebony Hillbillies (Bluegrass/Appalachian)
August 23, 2015, 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, inside the Park at 110th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues
As one of the last black string bands in the U.S. – currently based in the concrete hills of NYC – The Ebony Hillbillies keep an important legacy alive with a rootsy, homegrown style that many forget was a key element in the genesis of all the music cherished as uniquely American: jazz, blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, rock & roll and country. The EH are led by Henrique Prince (fiddle, vocals) and Norris Bennett (banjo, mountain dulcimer, guitar, vocals) and feature Gloria Thomas Gassaway on vocals and bones, William “Salty Bill” Salter on acoustic bass with A.R. and Newman Taylor Baker on washboard and percussion.