Precious Bryant (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bussey; January 4, 1942 – January 12, 2013) was an American

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer and guitarist. Bryant is described as one of Georgia's great blueswomen. She played Piedmont fingerstyle guitar. Bryant was born in

Talbot County, Georgia Talbot County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The 2020 census showed a population of 5,733. The county seat and largest city is Talbotton. History Talbot County was created from a portion of Mus ...

, United States. She was the third child of nine and first became interested in singing by performing at her local Baptist church with her sisters. Bryant learned to play guitar from her father and uncle before dropping out of high school in eleventh grade and beginning to perform wherever she could. Her uncle was blues musician George Henry Bussey. She was first recorded by folklorist George Mitchell in 1967, who described her as "Georgia musical treasure." In 1983, she performed at the Chattahoochee Folk Festival, and soon began playing at local, regional, and international venues to a growing fanbase. In 1995, Bryant met Tim Duffy and became involved with the Music Maker Relief Foundation, who assisted her in booking global tours and shows and increasing her following through events like Blues to Bop in Lugano, Switzerland, Port Townsend Blues Festival, and Chicken Raid in Atlanta, Georgia. Bryant released three solo albums. Her 2002 debut, ''Fool Me Good,'' was nominated for two

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

s, in the categories Acoustic Blues Album of the Year and Best New Artist Debut. In 2006, she was nominated for a similar award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year, as were Koko Taylor,

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

and the winner of the award,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

. Her song "Morning Train" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 film Black Snake Moan. Bryant died on January 12, 2013, in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, of complications from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

Discography

* ''Fool Me Good'' (2002) – Terminus * ''The Truth'' (2004) – Terminus * ''My Name Is Precious'' (2005) – Music Maker Bryant was first recorded in 1969 by George Mitchell in

Waverly Hall, Georgia Waverly Hall is a town in Harris County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama metropolitan statistical area. The population was 638 in 2020. History A post office called Waverly was established in 1829. The commu ...

. Three songs from that session were released on 7" vinyl by

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

, under the title ''George Mitchell Collection, vol. 37''.

References

External links

*
Precious Bryant page
a
Lady Plays the Blues Project
1942 births 2013 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American country guitarists American country singer-songwriters American folk musicians People from Talbot County, Georgia Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) {{US-country-musician-stub