Frank Delaney
611 E. Hoffman
Spokane, Wa 99207
frank@mtamicro.com
cell:
5096247230
See my Youtube Performance Videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=fdspokane
See my Youtube Mississippi Journey
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/MississippiJourney
Singer/Songwriter & Guitar Player - Blues, Folk,
Country, Pop, Gospel, Original
Guitars: 6 String, 12
String, Bottleneck Steel Guitar, Guitar Banjo, Electric
MUSIC
BACKGROUND & FOLK MUSIC RESEARCH:
1945 - Born Manhattan, New
York. Father was a college professor/saxophone player
Mother - piano player.
1955-57 - Drummer Portland Sabres
Drum & Bugle Corps
1959-63 - Drummer Miscellaneous garage & high school
bands
1963 - Drummer U.S. Naval
1963-65 - Drummer U.S. Naval
Played in 2 Mardi Gras & Mummers Parades -
I
was stationed in
I
had been a drummer since I was a boy, and this music inspired me to learn to
learn guitar in my twenties. My first guitar was a cheap classical guitar my
Mother gave me which she had bought for a Summer Music Camp for teachers and
decided she was never going to really play. I learned on that, and then bought
a 12 String Takamine steel string guitar, because I couldn't make the chords on
a skinny 6 string. Later I took 6 strings off the 12 string guitar to get a bluesier sound, and finally bought a Takamine 6 string
guitar. A friend of mine who was an instrument maker found an old guitar in a
dump and made it into a bottleneck guitar for me, with
an action so high I could put my fingers under the strings on any fret.
Living
in
I
have done research on the origin and meaning of American Folkblues songs for
over 25 years.
Conducted field recordings of folk performers in the
Pacific Northwest.
Studied
in-depth the guitar styles and lives of Mississippi John Hurt; Mance Lipscomb;
Lightning Hopkins, Fred McDowell. Biography of Mississippi John Hurt in progress.
Field
research on Mississippi John Hurt, July 2006, interviews with relatives, and
family members. Played at his Blues and Gospel Festival in Avalon, MS and
produced a DVD of my journey.
COFFEEHOUSES/CLUBS:
The Cornerstone Coffeehouse - WSU
The Coffee Tree -
The Donkey Jaw -
Cafe Libre -
The Tin Ear -
Saturday Night at Grandma's Cafe - Bonners Ferry, ID
Red Lion Tavern -
Bugattis -
The Hydra -
Jimmy D's Wine Cellar -
Community Coffeehouse -
Winesteinz -
Flowery Trail Coffeehouse -
Auntie’s Bookstore Concerts – Spokane, WA
Mother Goose Progressive Coffeehouse -
FESTIVALS:
Expo
1974 Folklife Performer -
Earth
Day Festivals -
Folklife
1984
Spokane Folklore Society Concerts –
1971 – Present Spokane,
Wa
SFS Mainstreet
Pinesong
-
Ritzville/Spirit
Spangle
American Music festival – 2000-04
Mississippi John Hurt Blues
& Gospel Festival 2006 Avalon, MS
Rathrum
Id Daze July 2008
Spirit
Lake ID Music Festival 2008
Pig
Out in The Park 2009
Seattle
Folklife Festival 2010 – Mississippi John Hurt Guitar Workshop
CO-FOUNDER: Spokane Songwriters Association
INSTRUCTIONAL
EXPERIENCE:
Finger-style
Folk/Blues private instructor - 30 years
Folk
Guitar Teacher - WSU Pullman Community Free University - 2 years
Folk
Guitar Teacher - Spokane Free University
Author
- "American Folkblues Guitar Style" - Instruction Book
Instructor - Spokane Parks &
Recreation Dept –
23 years
"The Early Bluesmen", "Heroes of the
Blues", "How to play Country-Blues Acoustic Guitar",
"Fingerstyle Folk Guitar", "Honky Tonk Guitar",
"Robert Johnson - Blues Phantom", “Mississippi John Hurt”.
Spokane Falls CC Extended Learning Center – Folk,
Blues, Country Guitar Classes
Instructor - Country Blues Guitar
Workshops, Mississippi John Hurt Guitar Workshops.
RADIO
PRODUCTION:
Producer: "The
Backwater Blues Show" - KPBX FM 91.1
Spokane Public Radio
National Public
Radio Affiliate - 1981 to 1988
"The Backwater Pond" - a monthly live music
special
"The Early Bluesman Series" - featuring the
greats of country blues
“Mississippi John Hurt”
NPR Special 2007 in Production
Interviews/Specials
with Elizabeth Cotten, Dave Van Ronk, John Fahey; many others
JOURNALISM:
Wrote a blues column for the Victory Review; a
Seattle/Tacoma area Folk Magazine, 1988 - 90. Column was entitled "Backwater Blues - News from
the Backwater Country".
AUTHOR:
“My Decades Long Journey to the Home of
Mississippi John Hurt”
E-Book
RESIDENT
MUSICIAN - The Spokane Marketplace
WEBMASTER – Mississippi John Hurt Museum www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com