ABC Picks

Neal Pattman, Pam Blanchard (Botanical Garden, Tuesday, August 13)

originally published August 7, 2002

Athens blues musician Neal "Big Daddy" Pattman is best known for playing Chicago-style and gospel-tinged blues with a full band, but his solo work is even more affecting.

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Pattman has been blowing the harmonica and stomping around professionally for over 55 years.

The 75-year-old harpist and singer was born and raised in Madison County on his family's cotton farm alongside 13 other siblings. Pattman lost his right arm in an accident at the farm to a wagon wheel at age 9, but that did not prevent him from learning music. He learned traditional folk and gospel tunes from his daddy at an early age and began seriously writing and singing tunes of his own by his early twenties.

Pattman's fame is international. He has toured Australia and Europe several times and has played to a variety audiences of all ages and backgrounds in the Southeast.

Pattman recently retired from a job at the Georgia Center For Continuing Education and regularly makes it out for live shows around the Athens club scene - sometimes with a full backing band, sometimes solo or with his wife, Deborah, who is always ready to help out with some hand percussion and impassioned dancing.

Pattman's most recent collection is a 1999 blues/gospel album titled Prison Blues (Music Maker).

Pattman headlines the final installment of "The Sunflower Music Series" at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Tickets are $5 for Friends of the Garden members and $10 for non-members. Music starts at 6 p.m. Pam Blanchard opens. [BL]