(Radio Iowa) – A singer-songwriter whose childhood was split between rural Kentucky and New York City will bring her unique blend of music to Iowa next week for two stops. Martha Redbone is on a national tour offering songs — and stories — which she says aim to lend a voice to issues of social justice, while bridging traditions and cultures from the past and present.

The 58-year-old is Native and African-American, as her father was a gospel singer and her mother had roots in the Cherokee, Shawnee and Choctaw nations.

Martha Redbone (Photo provided by Des Moines Performing Arts)

In her teens, Redbone met country legend Willie Nelson at the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, and he remains one of her enduring heroes.

When you play music, she says, you’re representing all the people who’ve influenced your life, your family, your teachers. One of her early mentors was songwriter and producer Walter “Junie” Morrison, a member of the prominent ’70s funk band, Parliament Funkadelic.

Redbone and her band will perform April 11th at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, and April 12th at the Temple Theater in Des Moines.

*************

Listen to some snippets of her music:

“How sweet I Roamed”:

“On Another’s Sorrow”:

https://martharedbone.com/

Englert Home

https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/martha-redbone/