Martha Redbone (born 1966) is an American singer known for blending

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

with elements of

Native American music Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...

Early life and education

Redbone spent time with her maternal grandparents in Harlan County. According to Redbone, her late mother, whose family has been rooted for generations in the mountains of Kentucky and Virginia, was a mix of Cherokee, Shawnee and Choctaw; her late father was an African-American from North Carolina. She has never conducted a

DNA test Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

, but says she looks like people from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria.

Career

Redbone composed the new music score for the late Ntozake Shange's choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuff" with her husband and collaborator Aaron Whitby, which premiered on Broadway in 2022. In 2019, they were the composers of the Public Theatre's iteration of the choreo-poem. Redbone and Whitby won a Drama Desk award for Outstanding Music in a Play for the Original score for "For Colored Girls" Redbone became a musician and singer, combining music styles with Black American and Native American roots music. Her stage name, "Redbone", comes from Southern slang for people of black and Native ancestry. She was mentored in songwriting and music production by Junie Morrison of the Ohio Players and Parliament Funkadelic. In early 2007, Redbone's ''Skintalk'' won The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best R&B Album."6th Annual Winners"
, Independent Music Awards Her 2012 work, ''The Garden of Love – Songs of William Blake,'' sets Blake's poem of the same name to music that draws from rural influences of Appalachia: English folk, African American, and Native American traditions. She tours nationally with the Martha Redbone Roots Project."The Martha Redbone Roots Project"
, August 2013, The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI), accessed 16 June 2014

Personal life

Redbone is married to Aaron Whitby, and the couple has a son.

Discography

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

References

External links

Martha Redbone's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redbone, Martha African-American women songwriters American soul musicians American people of Cherokee descent American people of Choctaw descent American people of Shawnee descent Living people American singers American women songwriters Musicians from Brooklyn Independent Music Awards winners Songwriters from New York (state) Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 1966 births