Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Blues From The Porch CD
Wicker and Jones
Photos
Bio
Mel Jones
Mel Jones grew up in Chapel Hill, NC surrounded by the blues. He began playing drums and singing in rock and blues bands when he was 13 and continued to play electric music for over thirty years. However, during his 4 years at Appalachian State in Boone, NC he was exposed to the bluesy acoustic music of Doc and Merle Watson and other traditional mountain players and realized there was another world of music out there. He sought out recordings of Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin Hopkins, Robert Johnson, and other roots bluesmen.
But it wasnt until he moved to Davie County, NC in the mid 1970s and found a hotbed of bluegrass and olde time music that he began to play the harmonica and acoustic music. Since then he has won numerous harp competitions in North Carolina and Virginia, and has gained a reputation as a dynamic performer and entertainer. In the early 1990s he met finger style blues guitarist Danny Wicker and began playing the music he had wanted to play for years; acoustic blues and jazz.
Danny Wicker
Danny Wicker was born near Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in rural eastern North Carolina. From an early age, he was exposed to folk and bluegrass music through his banjo-playing dad, Carl. He started playing guitar when he was 12 and was soon playing with his brothers and parents in a family band known as The Wicker Pickers performing at churches, picnics, and festivals throughout North Carolina. It was during this time that Danny heard and was influenced by the music of Doc Watson and was particularly impressed by Docs blues songs. Realizing how important the blues had been in shaping American music, he began listening to the music of Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, and Skip James. His distinctive finger guitar style continued to develop in the 80s and 90s as he added jazz and ragtime songs to his repertoire and continued to perform as a soloist and with other eastern NC musicians. In 1994, he moved to Iredell County, NC and, through his father met harmonica player Mel Jones. In no time, the two realized that they shared a common love of the blues and have been playing together ever since.
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