Browse Items (223 total)

Lebanese-American musician Peter Kfoury was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. His father was Lebanese and his mother Syrian. At thirteen, he learned to play guitar and soon after, he became fascinated with the oud, an old Mid-Eastern traditional…

Vocalist Aisha Kenyetta (a.k.a Aisha Frazier) was born in 1980, in Monetta, South Carolina. Before going to college, her life revolved around family and church activities. Kenyetta describes herself as a freelance vocalist with a powerful voice: “…

Musician and art entrepreneur Leah Suárez was born on August 12, 1981, in Greenwood, South Carolina. She grew up in Charleston with her parents and three brothers and her childhood activities revolved around soccer and music. As far as early musical…

Musician and educator Mervin Antonio Jenkins, also known as Spec the Spectacular for his talent at rhyming and freestyle, was born in Eutawville, South Carolina in 1972. He is the first child of Mary, a schoolteacher, and Melvin Jenkins, an auto…

Songwriter, singer, and guitarist Eddie Bush was born in Princeton, a small rural town in Indiana, in 1965 and he has lived in the Lowcountry since the early 1970s. When he was four years old, his father taught him basic guitar chords and since then,…

Galen Hudson, owner of Monster Music and Movies Store, was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1967 and grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His earliest musical memories relate to his love for bagpipes and drums and the music of his Catholic grade…

Radio host and producer Osei Terry Chandler was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946. His father was a musician and his mother loved listening to music. Growing up in this multicultural city, he was exposed to all kinds of music. As a teenager, he…

Musician, educator, and community leader Lonnie Hamilton III was born in Charleston in 1927. He is a graduate of South Carolina State College and VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. In the interview, Hamilton reflects about growing up and…

Gino Castillo was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1974. His maternal grandparents raised him and introduced him to classical and Cuban music. He started playing drums when he was thirteen years old. As a drummer, he toured with rock bands in his own…

Singer and storyteller Ann Caldwell was born in Denmark, South Carolina in 1952. Her family moved to Charleston when she was three years old. Her early musical memories relate to church music and the long hours she spent listening to gospel and R&B…