| Martha Redbone | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Place: | New York City |
| Origin: | New York City, New York, and Kentucky, United States |
| Genre: | Rhythm and Blues, Folk and Soul |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter, composer |
| Years Active: | 1996–present |
| Label: | Dome Records[1] |
Martha Redbone (born 1966) is an American blues and soul singer, who has won awards for her contemporary music. Her music is a mix of rhythm and blues and soul music influences, fused with elements of Native American music.[2]
Martha spent time with her maternal grandparents in Harlan County. She wrote that she spent much of her childhood in Black Mountain, Kentucky, with her maternal grandmother, who is of Eastern Cherokee and Shawnee ancestry, and her maternal grandfather, whom is of Black and Choctaw ancestry.[3] She has never conducted a DNA test, but says she looks like people from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria.[4]
Redbone became a musician and singer, combining music styles with Black American and Native American roots music.[5] Her stage name, "Redbone", comes from Southern slang for people of black andIndian ancestry.[6] She was mentored by Junie Morrison of the Ohio Players and Parliament Funkadelic where she honed her skills as a professional songwriter and producer. Since bursting onto the scene at the 2002 Native American Music Awards, she has earned a reputation as a collaborator, performer, educator, and mentor across native North America and in some cases abroad. In early 2007, Redbone's Skintalk won The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best R&B Album.[7]
Her 2012 work, The Garden of Love – Songs of William Blake, sets Blake's poetry to music that draws from rural influences of Appalachia: English folk, African American, and Native American traditions. She tours nationally with the Martha Redbone Roots Project.[8] The New York Times said her voice holds “both the taut determination of mountain music and the bite of American Indian singing.”[9]
Redbone is married to Aaron Whitby, and the couple has a son.[4]