Etta Baker on AllMovie

Had she died prior to the age of 60, musician Etta Baker would have languished in utter obscurity. That she lived 33 years beyond that point not only graced the woman with much-cherished golden years, but carried into the public spotlight one of the most refreshing and original acoustic blues guitarists in modern history.

Born March 31, 1913, in the mountainous backwoods of Caldwell County, NC, Baker grew up in a musically inclined family and learned finger-picking at an early age, but neglected to pursue a career in musical performance, instead working at a North Carolina textile mill for 26 years. At age 43, she appeared on a still-infamous 1956 compilation album called Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians, which influenced the modern folk renaissance of the late '60s and -- not serendipitously -- turned Baker into an acoustic superstar on the folk music scene, beginning in the early '70s. She cultivated a style of playing known as "Piedmont blues," a cross-pollination of traditional blues and bluegrass, and toured the festival circuit for decades. She issued albums very infrequently; her recordings include One-Dime Blues (1991) on Rounder and Railroad Bill on Music Maker. Eventually, a heart ailment forced her to stop touring, though she played banjo during her final year. She died of an unspecified cause on September 23, 2006, in Fairfax, VA, during a visit to her ailing daughter.

Baker's film appearances are scant, but she appears in the performance film Mike Seeger: Old Time Banjo Styles, and is the subject of a 1996 documentary, The Fingerpicking Blues of Etta Baker.