The Town of Carrboro kicked off its annual Elizabeth Cotten Freight Train Blues Concert Series on Friday night — and this year, the opening act featured a special recognition.
The family of Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten – the blue festival’s namesake who grew up in Carrboro – gifted one of the musician’s guitars to the town government as part of the opening moments. Brenda Evans, the great-granddaughter of Cotten, and Evans’ son Derrick “Money” Fennell Jr. presented town leaders with the instrument before Evans performed cover songs with other Cotten descendants.
From left to right: John Evans, Brenda Evans, Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee, Derrick Fennell Jr., and Jared Evans stand with Libba Cotten’s guitar at the Elizabeth Cotten Freight Train Blues Concert Series on Friday, May 15. (Photo via the Town of Carrboro on Facebook.)
The limited-edition 150th anniversary Martin guitar had most recently been displayed in Washington D.C. and now will have a future home displayed in Carrboro — potentially the Drakeford Library Complex, according to a town spokesperson.
The limited-edition Martin guitar was not one that Cotten used to write any of her legendary blues songs with, but it still holds significance in both her family history and music history. Fennell, who helped lead the effort to gift the instrument to Carrboro, said it was given to his great-great-grandmother when she was 90 years old.
“This guitar is a special guitar… one of which was decided to her by the House of Congress in 1983,” he told Chapelboro ahead of Friday’s concert. “It’s a significant number: it’s a 150th year one [for Martin]. So, it’s a one-of-a-kind.”
The guitar had been on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, after the blues musician was inducted to the hall in 2022. Cotten’s instruments have also been on display at the Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C., which was Cotten’s hometown for much of her life after being born in 1893 and growing up in the area eventually named Carrboro. When the guitar’s time at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit ended, Evans said she and Fennell decided it would best served as a way to say ‘thank you’ to the Town of Carrboro’s many efforts to honor Cotten. She told Chapelboro she believes the guitar is “part of the town’s soul.”
“It’s better off here where the community and visitors and friends can come and enjoy it rather than sitting in a house than our house,” Evans said with a smile. “My son said, ‘Ma, this is bigger than me.'”
Evans remembers being raised with help from Cotten in Washington D.C. area, describing her as “my mom, because she raised me from the age of four to 18” alongside six other great-grandchildren. After falling in love with Cotten’s music when her great-grandmother would play music at night to calm them down for bed, Evans is now helping keep Cotten’s catalogue alive by performing covers. That includes at Friday night’s blues concert and last January at Carrboro’s Elizabeth Cotten Day celebration alongside her nephews, John and Jared Evans.
“We wanted,” Brenda Evans said, “to make sure that the Town of Carrboro received something to symbolize Granny right here at home — and to symbolize our love and appreciation for what the Town of Carrboro has done for Granny and continues to do.”
“It is an incredible honor to help welcome home a piece of history that carries the spirit, creativity, and resilience of Elizabeth Cotten,” Carrboro Town Manager Patrice Toney said in a release from the local government. “The music she played from this guitar has resonated around the world and is a symbol of Carrboro’s rich cultural roots. We are grateful to be entrusted with this historic gift that will inspire generations to come.”
Friday’s performances at Carrboro Town Commons were the first of five days of live music planned as part of the blues series in May and June. To find the full lineup of artists and more details about the Elizabeth Cotten Freight Train Blues Concert Series, visit the town’s website.
Featured image via the Town of Carrboro
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