by Frank Matheis 2016
The Queens, New York-based duo of Valerie and Benedict Turner, Piedmont Bluz, features Valerie’s singing and fingerpicking on guitar and banjo. Her husband Benedict Turner plays percussion on his self-designed and -built washboards, which he plays lap style with brushes and sticks.
Valerie Turnerhas emerged as one of the important women in the acoustic traditional blues today. Her refined East Coast style acoustic country blues continues the tradition of the late great Elizabeth Cotten and Etta Baker, and she is, like them, among the gentlest of the acoustic players and one of the sub-genre’s most eloquent proponents. She was a star student and is greatly influenced by her teacher John Cephas. The duo has mostly performedin venues and festivals around New York and is now getting national and international recognition, having toured Israel, Spain, Ireland and Germany.
Valerie may be aware of her dual identity as an African American woman playing country blues, but she consciously transcends those roles. She explained, [1]
“It’s not just that I don’t look at myself as a female blues musician. I don’t look at myself as a black blues musician. I just look at myself as a blues musician—no race, no gender, no religion—no nothing. I think that it has a lot to do with how I was raised, because to be honest all the jobs that I’ve held, I’ve been sometimes the only woman there, or sometimes one of very few women.”
Piedmont Bluz is taking on the world with absolute love and devotion to this sub-genre as performers and dedicated preservationists. Valerie explained,
“I simply think of myself as a musician who cares about the Piedmont blues music very much and I want to see it grow and to be preserved. Our mission is to help keep this music going and to not let it die out. So, when we perform, we like to present each piece with a brief description of either the song or its original composer or the timeframe in which it was written. This is our way of helping to preserve the music. Without fail, after each gig people tell us how much they enjoy hearing a bit of history along with the music—how much they learned, and they thank us.”
Her primary inspiration, however, was not even from the Piedmont region. When asked to define her own sound, Valerie replied, “Oh, I’d tell you I sound probably a lot like Mississippi John Hurt. He was my entrée into this type of music. His music has by far influenced and inspired me more so than anyone else. It’s his music that I was attempting to learn when I first started in about 1980.”
Valerie Turner has made her mentors proud. Piedmont blues master John Cephas told his close friend Lynn Volpe that he considered Valerie his star student, the one who would carry on his legacy. Valerie spoke of her teachers:
“I’ve been very fortunate to have had so many talented teachers and mentors. To list them would be really exhaustive. But, I would say that my two main influences were John Cephas and Woody Mann. From John Cephas I really got a good feel for the music. He made me feel the great importance of helping to preserve [the Piedmont blues], helping to keep it alive. From Woody, I got a lot of technical information. I learned to refine techniques. I learned theory. Between the two of them they really expanded my repertoire enormously. Ben and I have both been very fortunate to have had so many talented teachers and mentors. Their guidance and advice have been priceless. Phil Wiggins really stands out. After John Cephas passed away, Phil became very present in our lives. We hadn’t interacted with him that much prior to then. And he’s a huge talent, as you know. From giving us constructive advice to giving us increasingly challenging opportunities, Phil has mentored us in more ways than we can count. To have that kind of relationship with someone so key in the acoustic blues scene has been a great blessing.”
Piedmont Bluz is the only duo in this genre that combines the washboard with guitar as a permanent fixture. Ben explainedhow he began playing the washboard: [2]
“One day I found a washboard in an antique shop in Vermont and brought it home. I just thought it was interesting, especially after hearing Jay Summerour play the washboard at a show that they did in Maryland with Rick Franklin. The following week, Valerie had me on stage playing along with her. That started my career as a musician, because prior to that I had no experience.”
Piedmont Bluz is returning the favor. Valerie has taught workshops at the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation, Blues Week at Augusta in Elkins, West Virginia; at Centrumʼs Acoustic Blues Festival in Port Townsend, Washington; and Menucha, Blues in the Gorge. Valerie also teaches students via Skype.
Despite the duoʼs success, Valerie had a difficult time with stage fright in the early years. Valerie recalled,
“The best advice I ever got on this topic—of how to be on stage, because he struggled with that as well—came from Phil Wiggins. Phil’s advice was very simple. He said, ‘Valerie, just be yourself.’ From that point on I stopped worrying about the fact that most of my contemporaries seemed to use fingerpicks and have a really aggressive attack. I began to appreciate my softer style, and it’s been working well. It keeps me calm when I’m performing. In fact, people often contact us, about once every other week, and tell us how much they enjoy hearing a less intense approach. Phil Wiggins was very helpful in that regard.”
CD: Piedmont Bluz Acoustic Duo – Country Blues Selections- Independent- 2015.
Book: Piedmont Style Country Blues Guitar Basics – 978-0-9990670-0-0 – Lib. Congress Nr. 2017908390–Mudbone Watson Productions Inc. – 1st Edition 2017
[1]Telephone interviews with Valerie Turner. Jan. 2, 2013 and July 26, 2015.
[2]Telephone interview with Benedict Turner. July 26, 2015.