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Artist
Gaye Adegbalola
12+ albums
bluesfemale vocalistsFemale VoicesAllspotify
about
Gaye Adegbalola (born Gaye Todd, March 21, 1944, Fredericksburg, VA) is an American blues singer and guitarist, teacher, lecturer, activist, and photographer. She was a founding member of Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women, initially formed as a duo in 1984 by Adegbalola and her guitar teacher, Ann Rabson. Adegbalola was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She graduated as valedictorian of the then-segregated Walker-Grant High School. She finished Boston University with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Prior to becoming a teacher, she worked as a technical writer for TRW Systems, a biochemical researcher at Rockefeller University, and a bacteriologist at Harlem Hospital. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Media (with a concentration in photography) from Virginia State University. In the early '70s, she began her teaching career. She was an educator in the Fredericksburg City Public School system for 18 years, and honored as Virginia State Teacher of the Year in 1982. Throughout her teaching career, she directed Harambee 360º Experimental Theater. She was able to creatively use performance as a tool to assist black youth in gaining confidence as they struggled with identity issues during the spread of "integration." During her teaching career, Adegbalola moonlighted as a musician. By maintaining the blues legacy, she now sees herself as a contemporary griot – keeping the history alive, delivering messages of empowerment, ministering to the heartbrok
