Oklahoma Rock Newsblog

D.C. Minner, blues musician and co-founder of the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival, passed away Tuesday. He was 73.

Born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma in 1935, Minner would later say he knew he was going to play music for living when he was a preschooler.

After serving as an Army medic in the Korean War, Minner lived in California, where he played bass for Larry Johnson and the New Breeds, which backed up O.V. Wright, Freddie King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Floyd and Bo Diddley. He would also meet his wife, Selby, while she was playing acoustic blues in northern California. D.C. switched to guitar and the couple toured as the blues duo Blues On The Move for 12 years.

In 1988, the couple turned Minner’s grandmother’s prohibition-era corn-whiskey hall, The Cozy Corner, into the after-hours club, The Down Home Blues Club. In 1991, they would start the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival.

The Minners would later create the Blues in the Schools program through the Oklahoma Arts Council, performing music in classrooms and educating students about the blues. The couple won a W.C. Handy Award and the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award for their efforts.

D.C. Minner was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2003.

UPDATE:
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 17:
11am - Memorial at The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee
3pm - Funeral at First Baptist Church & Honey Springs Cemetery in Rentiesville
Later - Celebration at Down Home Blues Club in Rentiesville

“If you play blues to get rich, then you really are making a mistake. So we don’t do this for the money. What we do do this for is for the love of the music.”
- D.C. Minner

After the jump, tributes by friends and colleagues.

“Music has lost a great blues man today in the passing of D.C. Minner. All of us involved with the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame extend our sympathy to (his wife) Selby and his family, and our gratitude that D.C. left us all the gift of his music.”
- Sue Harris, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame President

“D.C. Minner had so many accomplishments in the world of the blues, but I most remember him as a gentle man that loved blues music and loved spreading his music to everyone around him, especially children.”
- Joann McCarty, Oklahoma Blues Society President

“He had such a soulful feel, and you can’t separate his vocals from his playing. He was the full package.”
- ‘Hardluck’ Jim Johnson, host of “Weekend Blues” and program director at KGOU-FM 106.3

“He was just a fine fellow. I met D.C. eight or 10 years ago when my son was in high school. One of Minner’s deals was educational outreach. He encouraged young people to get involved in music, So he toured the region and gave workshops. He made music available to everyone.”
- Mike Jett, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame board member

“He knew music can do a lot for people and that people can do a lot for music.”
- bassist Earnest ‘Bronko’ Carr

“He was the blues when it came to Oklahoma. He taught us all. He brought so many young musicians and he gave people a place to play. He was Mr. Blues. We’ll miss him.”
- John Peters, host of “Jammin’ John’s Boogie Down Blues Show” on McAlester Radio’s 105.1 FM station

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 8:33 am and is filed under deaths, D.C. Minner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.