SFMS teams up with the Blues Society of Central PA to bring you a workshop and concert with the Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo. Valerie and Benedict Turner are delightful ambassadors for roots blues music and the African-American culture from which it springs.

The day includes a workshop on the basics of Piedmont-style fingerpicking, open to all levels. Details below!

The duo’s repertoire encompasses Country Blues music, the Piedmont style of fingerpicking, and roots percussion. Their mission is to help bring awareness to these unique aspects of African-American culture, and to the contributions of early blues artists, through performing and teaching.

They feel that “there are stories to tell, people to remember, and things that must be said” so they weave a bit of history into the presentation of each song. A Piedmont Blūz concert isn’t just music — it’s an experience as they transport you back to the 1920s and 1930s, the hey-day of acoustic Country Blues music. In addition to performing songs from that time-frame, they introduce each piece with an interesting anecdote about either the composer, the time period, or the song itself.

This husband-and-wife duo have been entertaining audiences both domestically and abroad and are much loved wherever they go.In addition to a host of domestic venues and festivals, these tradition bearers have traveled as far as Europe and the Middle East to share their music.

Valerie Turner is a native New Yorker with southern roots in Virginia and Georgia. She plays finger style Country Blues guitar and specializes in the Piedmont style of fingerpicking. She has taught at major guitar workshops including the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Workshop, Augusta Blues Week, and Blues in the Gorge.

An inductee into the New York Blues Hall of Fame, and Co-President of the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation, Valerie is also the author of Piedmont Style Country Blues Guitar Basics, an independently published book acquired by the Library of Congress. Her eclectic repertoire is heavily influenced by the years spent studying with John Cephas (a world-renowned Country Blues musician in the Piedmont style) and Woody Mann (a Juilliard trained student of Rev. Gary Davis). Valerie’s guitar playing is reminiscent of traditional blues greats like Mississippi John Hurt, Etta Baker, and Elizabeth Cotten. (Photo by Linda & Sidney Danz)

Benedict Turner is a roots percussionist specializing in lap-style washboard. Occasionally, he also chimes in on bones or harp for added accents, and his subtle touches add just the right amount of texture.

As a professional Graphic Designer and Senior Art Director, Benedict curates vintage washboards and bells from around the world, and uses these artifacts to create his unique line of Darlington Washboards which feature detailed carvings and sculpted attachments.

Benedict has studied with Washboard Chaz of Louisiana fame, as well as with Newman Taylor Baker of the Ebony Hillbillies. Inspired by these two talented percussionists, Benedict has his own style of washboard playing, which is influenced by the melodic and percussive sounds of the steel drums of his birthplace, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo by Linda & Sidney Danz)