|
  Cameo appearance with Elliott and The Untouchables From the rural town of Bishopville on Lynches River the South Carolina sandhills, Drink Small "The Blues Doctor" hails from a family of singers. Drink learned music early in life by playing the family organ and at age 10 taught himself to play a four string guitar he built himself. A local guitarist named Greenback encouraged Drink to play six string and Drink built one, a herring can and six strings of a Model A Ford inner tube. During high school, he sang in the glee club, formed a quartet called Six Stars, and played piano for house parties making five dollars a gig. For a short time, he attended Denmark (SC) trade school learning to be a barber, but gave it up to play blues guitar on the college circuit. He continued to attend church and was exposed to a number of gospel groups including The Spiritualaires, a band for which he would later play guitar. In 1957, Drink was voted number one gospel guitarist while The Spiritualaires were voted number two gospel group in the country. Shortly afterward, he left gospel to concentrate on the blues. Like many rural blues players, it was inevitable that Drink and others migrated to urban areas. For most those paths led to northern industrial centers like Chicago and New York, but the Blues Doctor chose to settle forty miles west of his hometown in Columbia, the South Carolina capitol. He is a master of delta, slide, ragtime, and Piedmont styles of blues guitar and also plays boogie woogie piano (although rarely in concert). His music is diverse in and of itself, and preserves numerous South Carolina traditions. For instance, Drink's rendition of the Isley Brother's "Shout" is reminiscent of the ring shout, a late 19th century African American form of music and celebration with roots in African culture, while his Piedmont influence is also present in songs like "The Things I Used To Do." But perhaps the most distinguishing feature of this gifted artist is his deep bass voice, which is unmistakable in a crowd. The Blues Doctor Live and Outrageous was nominated for a W.C. Handy award. In 1990, Drink was awarded the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award by the S. C. General Assembly for both guitar playing and singing. Drink's latest accomplishments include being a 1999 inductee in the South Carolina Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame. The Palmetto State's legendary bluesman has performed at two World Fairs, two New Orlean's Jazz & Heritage festivals and a host of other festivals and workshops across the United States. Drink with his guitar Geraldine headlined the first ever Columbia's Blues Festival and returns for his fourth appearance joining Elliott and The Untouchables for an unforgettable jam!
|
