Matokie Slaughter

Matokie Slaughter, who died December 31 1999, was an old time banjo player from Pulaski Virginia; she invented her own unique picking style which many other banjo players seek to imitate. She played on local radio in the 1930's and was frequently mistaken for a man because she seldom spoke; she let her instrument speak for her. Matokie's music appears on two country albums, "The Clawhammer Banjo: Volumes One and Three" and with Alice Gerrard and The Back Creek Buddies.

One of my favotire graffiti artists / artists Margaret Kilgallen payed homage to Matokie Slaughter when she chose the name as her tag. Kilgallen's husband and father of her daughter Barry McGee aka Twist, another of my SF favorites, shouts out to Kilgallen aka Matokie Slaughter in the above piece.

Barry McGee and Margaret Kilgallen are profiled, among others, in a great doc called Beautiful Losers.