Interview with blues musician/singer Red Tam (Tony McQueen)

General Note/Comment

• Three audio cassettes. McQueen, also known as Red Tam, was leader of the Jacksonville-based Red Tam Blues Band. His father, also called Red Tam, was a popular local blues player (he died two years before this interview.) McQueen discusses his birth in Miami and living in various Florida towns; his father's music; electric blues; learning the blues from his father; playing with various blues artists such as BB King, Freddie King, and Clarence Carter; various blues styles; forming and playing with his band; Jacksonville blues clubs; getting work; touring; bass and drums in blues; training new musicians; guitar styles; and special techniques in blues guitar playing. For recordings of Red Tam performing, see S 1618, box 4, tapes 11-12. The Folk Arts in Education Project in Duval County was a joint venture between the Duval County School System and the Florida Folklife Program. It was started in 1984 by folklorist David Taylor with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to add to existing social studies curriculum. The project consisted of field research to identify local traditions and folk artists, a series of five two-day seminars to acquaint teachers with the use of folklore and folk arts, and in-school programs conducted by a folklorist and traditionalist, which included visits by local folk artists. Taylor ran it until 1986. In 1988, Gregory Hansen re-initiated it with minor changes.