Join Ironing Board Sam for a Saturday night, Southern Blues concert on February 25, 7 pm. Adult tickets: $10. Children twelve and under admitted free of charge. Tickets can be purchased the night of the concert or in advance by calling the Museum at 701-777-4195.

This musical event is sponsored in part by GuestHouse International Inn of Grand Forks.

Born July 17, 1939 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Ironing Board Sam’s first memory was pounding away on his family’s pump organ as a two year old. By age fourteen, Sam had his first gig under his belt. In the 1950s, Sam spent his time immersed in the Miami R&B scene and inventing his “button board,” a homemade portable keyboard which he mounted to an ironing board that simulated the Hammond B3 organ sound. In the 1960s he relocated to Memphis where he became a staple in the black entertainment district along Jefferson street and performed regularly on the television show Night Train, an all-black R&B and soul music TV show out of Nashville, TN. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Ironing Board Sam spent time in Memphis, Los Angeles, and Chicago recording on various independent labels before settling into New Orleans in the mid 1970s for a period of time to soak up influences such as Ray Charles and James Booker. After 55 years of touring, Sam has honed his playing and song writing skills. As he says, “This is the time when in my life it seems to be that I’m at my best because I know more on how to write music, know more how to play it, know more how to get it to the audience, know more about everything. I’m 70 years old. It took this time, you know.”

Ironing Board Sam is a recipient of the Music Maker Relief Foundation out of Hillsborough, North Carolina.