Biography
Algia Mae Hinton (née O'Neal; August 29, 1929 – February 8, 2018) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, vocalist, and buck dancer from Johnston County, North Carolina. Born the youngest of 14 children to farmers Alexander and Ollie O'Neal, who raised tobacco, cotton, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes, she grew up in a musical family on a former slave plantation. At age nine, she learned guitar and banjo in the Piedmont finger-picking style from her mother Ollie, a skilled string instrumentalist who performed at family gatherings, house parties, and church services; from her father, a dancer, she learned buck dancing and the two-step. Hinton worked the fields from a young age, married Millard R. Hinton in 1950, and moved to Raleigh, where they had seven children before his death in 1965, after which she returned to Johnston County, raising her family as a single mother through farm labor while playing music at house parties for her community and children.
Hinton's career gained wider recognition in 1978 when folklorist Glenn Hinson discovered her, leading to performances at the North Carolina Folklife Festival, National Folk Festival, University of Chicago Folk Festival, and a 1985 Carnegie Hall event 'Southern Roots' featuring Delta and Piedmont blues artists. Known for her rock-steady Piedmont blues guitar—played on 6- and 12-string acoustics—sung repertoire of blues, folk tunes, gospel, and church songs learned from her mother, and dynamic buck dancing (often guitar behind her head), she appeared in Mike Seeger's 1983 film Talking Feet (released 1992). In 1998, she made her only European trip for the Blues Al Femminile series in Turin, Italy. The Music Maker Relief Foundation supported her from 1995, releasing her 1999 CD Honey Babe and providing instruments, stipends, and performance opportunities; she received a 1992 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.
Hinton preserved rare African American traditions like Piedmont blues and buck/flat-foot dancing amid personal hardships, including a 1985 house fire after Carnegie Hall that destroyed her belongings (inspiring verses in her song 'Going Down This Road,' adapted from earlier versions drawing on country and women's blues influences). She hosted music and dance parties, influenced her children musically, and was documented by folklorists in the 1970s North Carolina movement, becoming one of the last recorded Piedmont blueswomen.
Fun Facts
- Hinton escaped barefoot through frosty, jagged ground during a 1985 house fire that destroyed all her belongings just after her Carnegie Hall debut, later adapting 'Going Down This Road' with new verses about the event—though she had sung earlier versions for years.
- She was renowned for playing guitar behind her head while buck dancing, demonstrated in the film Talking Feet.
- One of 14 children raised on a tobacco farm, she picked crops like cucumbers to support her family and played paper comb harp even into her 80s while chair-bound after a fall.
- Made only one trip abroad in 1998 to Italy for Blues Al Femminile, her sole European performance.
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Ollie O'Neal - Mother who taught her guitar, banjo, and Piedmont finger-picking style; also a singer (Family performances, house parties, church services; songs Hinton sang like those on Honey Babe) [From age 9 (1938 onward)]
- Alexander O'Neal - Father who taught her buck dancing and two-step (Family gatherings) [Childhood (1929-1940s)]
Key Collaborators
- Glenn Hinson - Folklorist who discovered her and arranged early festival performances (North Carolina Folklife Festival (1978))
- Music Maker Relief Foundation - Organization that provided support, recorded her, and booked shows; part of sustenance program with other Piedmont players (Honey Babe CD (1999); documentary Living the Blues; book Music Makers (2004)) [1995-2018]
- Mike Seeger - Produced film featuring her guitar and dance (Talking Feet: Solo Southern Dance - Flatfoot, Buck and Tap (1983/1992))
- Lightnin' Wells (Mike Lightnin' Wells) - Lifelong musical collaborator and friend; recorded her song (Going Down This Road (her first commercial recording, 1986)) [1985 onward]
Artists Influenced
- Her seven children - Passed music traditions to them; played for and with them at house parties (Community entertainments) [1950s-1970s]
External Links
Tags: #acoustic-blues, #blues, #piedmont-blues
References
Heard on WWOZ
Algia Mae Hinton has been played 2 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.