Flora Molton
Flora E. Molton (née Rollins; March 12, 1908 – May 31, 1990) was an American street singer and slide guitar player who performed gospel and blues music in Washington, D.C., from the 1940s to shortly before her death. She played slide guitar in the "bottleneck" style commonly employed by rural blues musicians, and she played the harmonica and tambourine.
Born partially blind due to cataracts, Molton grew up in Virginia. Her father was a minister, and she was influenced early by her religious upbringing and by blues musicians such as Bessie Smith. When Molton began performing on the streets of Washington in her thirties, she played blues music. Over the years, she moved away from blues songs, instead performing gospel music and what she called "truth" music, which involved themes of perseverance through life's struggles.
Molton was often accompanied in her street singing by musicians such as Phil Wiggins who had success as mainstream artists, and she sometimes performed with groups under the name Flora Molton and the Truth Band. Fellow musicians noted that the structure of Molton's music was often defined more by her singing than by her guitar.
Molton did not make scheduled performances until 1963, when she met a musician named Ed Morris, who helped her to arrange gigs at music festivals and other venues. She appeared at events such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, performed at the Library of Congress, and went on a tour of Europe in 1987. Molton is the subject of the documentary Spirit and Truth Music, and she appears in the documentary Blues Houseparty. There are historical markers dedicated to her in Washington, D.C., and on U.S. Route 250 in Virginia.
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