Great Lakes Folk Festival

Brooklyn, New York
Blues/Ragtime/Old-time

 Jerron Paxton was born in 1989 in South Central Los Angeles and grew up surrounded by his Louisiana emigré family: four generations on a single block. He lived with his mother, a set of grandparents, an uncle, and an aunt. His great-grandmother, born in 1906, lived across the street. He first tried to learn fiddle at 12, taking lessons at school on Saturdays, but soon switched to banjo, guitar, and piano. 

When he was 16, he played his first official concert, earning $100 in South Central's West Adams neighborhood, playing songs by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin' Hopkins. It was also at about this time that Jerron's eyesight began to fail him, and at 17, he was diagnosed with congenital retinal deterioration and cone dystrophy; he was legally blind. 

Jerron would be the first in his family to go to college, attending Marist College near Poughkeepsie, New York. He studied philosophy and history, but would often cut classes to spend time in the music room in order to practice piano. Whenever he could, he went to New York City to explore the folk scene. He discovered The Jalopy in Brooklyn, where he met the Wileys; Feral Foster (who hosted the "Roots and Ruckus" hootenannies on Wednesday nights); Eli Smith (Down Hill Strugglers, host of the online Down Home Radio Show, co-founder of the Brooklyn Folk Festival); and banjo player Hubby Jenkins (now a member of the old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops).

Paxton will serve as artistic director of the Port Townsend festival, where he'll play and teach in late July and August. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blind-Boy-Paxton/297367436949192