Blues guitarist and singer Algia Mae Hinton died at her home in Middlesex, N.C., on Feb. 8 at age 88.
One of the last practitioners of old style Piedmont blues, Hinton was born on Aug. 29, 1929, in Johnston County, N.C. Her parents, Alexander and Ollie were farmers who raised a variety of crops including tobacco, cotton and sweet potatoes. Her mother, who could play various stringed instruments, began teaching Algia to play at age 9.
Hinton eventually became a regular performer at blues festivals starting in the late 1970s. One of her career highlights was a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1984.
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Sketch of Hinton by Keith Scott