Akeman was born in Jackson County, Ky., in 1915, and he grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry, the Nashville radio program that featured country musicians like Uncle Dave Macon, who would become ...
A new generation of artists have brought African Americans back to the forefront of the banjo scene. Take, for example, Rhiannon Giddens, whom you can hear behind me. Black musicians have been a part ...