Martha Redbone

Martha Redbone (born 1966) is an American blues and soul singer of part Choctaw, European and African-American descent. She has won awards for her contemporary Native American music. Her music is a mix of rhythm and blues, and soul music influences, fused with elements of traditional Native American music.[5]

This article is about American musician. For other uses, see Redbone.
Martha Redbone
Background information
Birth nameDiane Fulmore[1][2]
Born1966[2]
OriginNew York City, New York,[3] and Kentucky, United States
GenresR&B, and soul music
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1996–present
LabelsDome Records[4]
Websitemartharedbone.com

Early life and education

Martha Redbone was born in 1966.[2] Her birth name is Diane Fulmore.[1][2] She has written that she was born in New York City, New York.[3] Some sources say she was born in Kentucky[6] and spent time with maternal grandparents in Harlan County. She wrote that she spent much of her childhood in Black Mountain, Kentucky, with her material grandmother, whom she identifies as being of Cherokee and Shawnee ancestry, and her maternal grandfather, whom she identifies as being of Choctaw ancestry.[3] She wrote that she moved back to Brooklyn, New York, as a child, "but we went back to Kentucky often for ceremonies."[3]

She had maternal roots in Clinch Mountain, Virginia and other parts of Appalachia. She absorbed music from many local and other regional traditions, such as African American, Cherokee, Choctaw, English folk music, and others. Her father had a strong gospel music tradition from North Carolina.[7] She grew up learning and exploring her Native American roots among Cherokee and Choctaw, and directed her music to absorb those traditions.

Career

Redbone became a musician and singer, exploring soul with Native American undertones. She began performing under the name Martha Redbone in 1996.[1] Since bursting onto the scene at the 2002 Native American Music Awards, she has earned a reputation as a collaborator, performer, educator, and mentor across native North America and in some cases abroad. In early 2007, Redbone's Skintalk won The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best R&B Album.[8]

Her 2012 work, The Garden of Love – Songs of William Blake, sets Blake's poetry to music that draws from rural influences of Appalachia: English folk, African American, and Native American traditions. She toured nationally in 2013 with what she called The Martha Redbone Roots Project.[7] The New York Times said her voice holds “both the taut determination of mountain music and the bite of American Indian singing.”[9]

Discography
  • Home of the Brave (2001)
  • Skintalk (2004)
  • Future Street (2006)
  • The Garden of Love – Songs of William Blake (2012)

References
  1. Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Trademarks, Volume 1243, Issue 1 ed.). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office. 2001. p. 256.
  2. Redbone, Martha. "Meet Martha!" (PDF). Musical Explorers – Carnegie Hall. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  3. "Martha Redbone". Discogs. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  4. "Martha Redbone", Soultracks
  5. Anastasia Tsioulcas, "Martha Redbone Roots Project: globalFEST 2013", NPR, 16 January 2013, accessed 16 June 2014
  6. "The Martha Redbone Roots Project" Archived 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, August 2013, The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI), accessed 16 June 2014
  7. "6th Annual Winners" Archived 2009-05-01 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Music Awards
  8. "The Martha Redbone Roots Project", Freight & Salvage Coffee House, 2013, accessed 16 June 2014
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