The Elizabeth Cotten Day Celebration in Carrboro, NC on January 5, 2025.
Hosted by Mayor Barbara Foushee on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, we enjoyed a very special event with community featuring Brenda Evans, the great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Cotten, for songs and remembrances at the Carrboro Century Center. Also joining Ms. Evans were the great-great grandchildren -- Jordan, Jared and John Evans of Charlotte, N.C. – and the great-great-great grandchildren including Julianna, Kemi and Myles.
Many thanks to NC Representative Renée Price for presenting during the program, as well as Carrboro Poet Laureate Liza Wolff-Francis. Thanks also to the great crowd of 100-plus people including Council Members Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Catherine Fray, Town Manager Patrice Toney, and old family friends like Alice Gerrard..
Born on Jan. 5, 1893 in Carrboro, North Carolina, Cotten wrote her signature song “Freight Train” about the train she could hear from her childhood home on Lloyd Street in Carrboro, North Carolina. Cotten's talents as guitarist and songwriter came to light while she was working in the home of the Seeger family, who encouraged her career as a professional musician. Cotten toured across the country, recording several albums and winning a Grammy Award and a National Heritage Fellowship before her death in 1987. She was inducted into the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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