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Rattlesnake Annie

rattlesnakeanniemusic

About Me

Buy Rattlesnake music at RattesnakeAnnie.com
In the history of Country-Blues music there has never been a woman, alone with her guitar, to accomplish what Rattlesnake Annie has done with her art. She has spanned the globe fusing her music with ethnic music of the world, singing and recording in many languages.

Rattlesnake Annie was born of Scotch-Irish and Cherokee Indian heritage on a cotton and tobacco farm in Paris, Tennessee near the Kentucky border, halfway between Memphis and Nashville, at the crossroads of Blues, Jazz, Country and Bluegrass.

As an infant she was carried in a washtub to the fields among the black and white, local and migrant workers. She listened and watched as they entertained themselves with field calls, blues, spirituals and humorous stories, and as a young child she worked in the fields with them seeing birth, death, despair and happiness. She wrote her own songs and became a gifted guitarist by age 10.

By the time she was 12, Rattlesnake had formed a singing trio with her cousins, The Gallimore Sisters. They earned their first money ($6.00) playing a political rally for Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee. They played local churches, funerals, weddings, prisons and hayrides for free. During this time, Rattlesnake attained the trio’s own radio show on WTPR in Paris, Tennessee, sponsored by Martha White Flour. The Gallimore Sisters also won a statewide contest where they were invited to the Grand Ole Opry stage with Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.

At 16, Rattlesnake was lured to Memphis, Tennessee, by the blues and rock sounds being created there and spent several formative years on the world famous Beale Street. She sang, played the guitar and was mentored by such legends as Ligtnin’ Hopkins, Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis and Muddy Waters.

In the 1960’s, Rattlesnake moved to Texas where she began her friendship and musical collaborations with Willie Nelson. Rattlesnake continued to tour, write songs and produce her own recordings, one of which was her highly acclaimed Columbia-Nashville album, Rattlesnake Annie that resulted in three Billboard charted singles.

Riding on her success, Rattlesnake was invited to Europe and Asia and became an icon for southern American music. “Braided by ringing purity, her music restores a faith in the timeless strength and quality of American folk music,” wrote Gavin Martin in England’s New Musical Express magazine.

In 1982, Rattlesnake was invited to embark on a unique journey behind the Iron Curtain to record and tour with Czech recording artist, Michal Tucny. Their duet album, Rattlesnake Annie and The Last Cowboy, earned platinum. Jana Cerna with Sedmicka Pionyru magazine wrote, “Rattlesnake has captured the imagination of the youth of Czechoslovakia and become an American folk hero.”

In 1991, Rattlesnake became the first American recording artist to be produced in-house by Sony-Tokyo, and that has resulted in a continuing relationship with the release of multiple albums and concert tours. She has collaborated with some of Japan’s greatest artists including Kato Tokiko, Minami Kostetsu and Kosaka Kazuya.

Rattlesnake has lived for 18 years in southern Spain, the heart of the Andalusian Gypsy Flamenco music culture. There she has honed her skills as a Flamenco guitarist, singer and recording artist. “She has truth in the voice,” wrote renowned music journalist Angel Alvares Caballero for Caprensa - Spain.

“A wandering gypsy musician in the truest sense…a voice with the pathos of the Blues,” wrote Paolu Caru for the Italian magazine El Ultimo Buscandero. This woman of the southern culture is truly an international ambassador of Country-Blues music. Single-handedly, she and her guitar are teaching people around the world about Southern roots music – and her audiences are truly fascinated by her.


My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/18/2006
Band Website: rattlesnakeannie.com
Record Label: Rattlesnake Records / Sony
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Tokyo, Japan concert for Buddhas Birthday

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Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:33:00 PST

Les Paul and Rattlesnake live in NYC Sept. 2007

Les Paul invited me to join him for two nights, two stages each night. What an incredible experience! He is 92 years old, very witty, warm, soulful and a great player! I am singin...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:23:00 PST

Les Paul signing Rattlesnake guitar

 
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:15:00 PST

INDIA Pondicherry, International Womens Day

It was 100 degrees in the shade and I will never forget these women, wearing their best saris, walking through the fields and down the dusty roads with their babies on their hips. It is beautiful to...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 05:21:00 PST

German Music Awards concert for TV and DVD Erfurt, Germany

Singing a duet with my old buddy, Tom Astor. We have been recording and touring together since 1987. ...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:08:00 PST

German Music Awards concert for TV and DVD Erfurt, Germany

This is my dear friend Heike, she first saw me in 1984 in Liepzig Germany with Dean Reed, at East Germanys first Country TV show. Since that time she has been to my concerts all over E...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:00:00 PST

Lisa & La Serpiente de Cascabel, Viva Mexico!

My beautiful Lisa, mother of our 2 grandsons, Justen & Kyle. We had a great girls trip to the Yucatan in Mexico..laughing, singing, eating , dancing on Isla Mujeres, exploring the Maya ruin...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:35:00 PST

JAPAN expo with Cherokees

My song "Mother Mountian" (recorded on CD Indian Dream) http://www.rattlesnakeannie.com/catalog.htm ,was selected as offical song for the Expo in Japan. I took 23 Cherokee Indian Children from Oklaho...
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 10:29:00 PST

INDIA Pondicherry, International Womens Day

I
Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 05:15:00 PST

Al (my son) Lesa (his wife) skydiving in Texas, it is their passion!


Posted by Rattlesnake Annie on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 02:09:00 PST