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Because vocalist-guitarist Steve Brown adopted the nickname “Scrapper” and the Scrapper & Skelton duo performs unplugged blues songs that are 100 years old, it’s not unreasonable to guess that Brown and Ken Skelton celebrate the work of influential Indianapolis musicians Leroy Carr and Francis “Scrapper” Blackwell.
The Scrapper & Skelton repertoire includes “Blues Before Sunrise,” a 1934 hit for Carr and Blackwell, but the modern duo isn’t a tribute act. Carr, for instance, played piano and sang while being accompanied by Blackwell on guitar. Brown plays guitar and sings while accompanied by Skelton on harmonica.
Scrapper & Skelton also perform songs popularized by James “Yank” Rachell, a mandolin-playing ace of rural blues who lived in Indianapolis during the second half of his life.
“It’s basically a lot of back porch blues,” said Skelton, a visual artist and the nephew of Indianapolis jazz saxophone player James Spaulding.
On Sunday, Scrapper & Skelton will perform as part of the “Juneteenth Black Heritage Concert” at Indiana Landmarks Center, 1201 Central Ave.
Carr, Blackwell and Rachell grew up in the South before moving to Indianapolis. Carr (1905-1935) was a Tennessee native known for the songs “How Long, How Long Blues” and “Blues Before Sunrise.” His musical partner, Blackwell (1903-1962), was a South Carolina native who wrote “Kokomo Blues”—a song Robert Johnson borrowed and recast as “Sweet Home Chicago.” Carr was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982, an honor Blackwell received earlier this year.
Rachell (1910-1997) was a Tennessee native heard on the original versions of “New Minglewood Blues,” recorded in Memphis in 1930 and frequently covered by the Grateful Dead, and “She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride),” a tune later popularized by the Blues Brothers.
Brown is a veteran Indianapolis musician who’s been a member of the bands No Regrets and Mojo Gumbo. He once lived in the same neighborhood as mandolin player Rachell, who Brown described as a personal mentor.
“We became fast friends,” Brown said. “He taught me a lot about this business and he taught me a lot of history.”
Scheduled 6-8 p.m. Sunday, the Juneteenth Black Heritage Concert will showcase a dozen gospel and blues performers. Playwright Ethel McCane and music journalist Kyle Long will serve as narrators. For more information, visit indianalandmarks.org.
The Landmarks Center isn’t the only Indianapolis site marking Juneteenth, a federally designated holiday commemorating the 1865 emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Local highlights include:
- Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site Juneteenth Foodway Festival, 4:30-8 p.m. Friday.
- Juneteenth parade on Indiana Avenue, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday.
- Juneteenth program focused on history, health and the arts, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at the Indiana State Museum.
- Juneteenth and Jazz Community Celebration, 11 a.m-4 p.m. Saturday at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.
- Indy Juneteenth Festival, noon-7 p.m. Saturday at Military Park.
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