Blues by Wildsang

Hillary Kay's roots are buried deep in the black tradition. Joe "King" Oliver is her great uncle and classical composer Ulysses Kay is her father. Hillary grew up on the hip of her Freedom Rider mother Barbara Kay, who marched side by side with Dr. King and was arrested and imprisoned in Mississippi's Parchman Penitentiary in the fight for voting rights and racial equality. It was the Freedom songs that fueled the spirits of the people through their trials in the jails, and this same spirit lives on in Hillary's voice and music. Inspired by the music of Howlin' Wolf, Charlie Patton, Big Momma Thornton, Robert Johnson and Son House, Hillary acquired a resonator guitar and embarked on a trip into the deep blues. She is still on what has become a life journey.

Kate Freeman fell in love with the blues the moment she heard Lightnin' Hopkins and Big Momma Thornton in 1964. Next, she picked up a $2.00 Hohner Blues Harp and never put it down. Shortly thereafter, the richness and spirit of the music from the Mississippi Delta and North Carolina's Piedmont Plateau got under Kate's skin and there began a lifetime love affair with the blues. A San Francisco native, Kate was surrounded by the musical greats of the Sixties. At any given time you could be jammin' or hangin' with The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin & Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, or Moby Grape. You never knew who would be around the corner and music and magic were definitely alive and well. Kate dedicated her life to the blues over thirty-five years ago and this dedication has never wavered.

WILDSANG has shared the stage with, Taj Mahal, Ani DiFranco, Corey Harris, Gov't Mule, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Iris Dement, Eliza Gylkison, Sophie B. Hawkins, Chris Williamson, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Buffy Saint Marie, Arlo Guthrie, Rick Danko of The Band, Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin, Tony Furtado & The American Gypsies, Henry Butler, John McEuen of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Toshi Regan, Judy Mowatt of the I-Threes (Bob Marley's back up singers).

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