CARRBORO, NC-- Enjoy Gail Caesar and Lakota John Locklear at this year's final Freight Train Blues Concert, Friday, June 13, 2025. The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main Street. Bring your picnic, lawn chairs and blankets for a free evening of free live music on the lawn. Beer and food will be available for purchase at the events.
The series is a collaboration among Music Maker Foundation; the Town of Carrboro, WUNC 91.5 FM, and The Forests at Duke.
Gail Ceasar
Gail Ceasar floats somewhere between bluegrass and the blues. Her music has roots that run deep in Virginia soil. Taught the blues by her uncle, Pete Witcher, Gail’s Piedmont style is “reminiscent of Etta Baker and Elizabeth Cotten” (Bluegrass Situation). Losing her home to a fire in 2022 didn’t stop her from releasing her debut album, Guitar Woman Blues. The album, produced by Music Maker, has been called “sweet and captivating” and “gritty and raw as the high lonesome wind” (Americana Highways). She performed with Music Maker at the National Gallery of Art in February 2023.
Lakota John Locklear
Lakota John is, in and of himself, a living representation of the musical cultures of southeastern North Carolina. He is a member of the Lumbee Tribe who combines the blues with the indigenous music of his ancestors. Born in 1997, John Lakota Locklear, grew up listening to his dad’s music collection. At 7 years old, he picked up the harmonica and, at 7, his first guitar. Intrigued by the sound of the slide guitar, by 10 he had bought himself a glass slide, placed it on his pinky finger and has been sliding ever since. Today, Mama Tonya, Papa John and Sister Layla join him to form a proud Lumbee Nation family of talented musicians. Since the creation of blues music, Native Americans have paid an often overlooked but deep contribution to this musical tradition. Lakota John & Kin continue to Meld their ancestors’ ancient harmonies with traditional blues.
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