Juanita "Arizona" Dranes was an American blind female gospel singer and pianist.
12 Facts About Arizona Dranes
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Arizona Dranes was one of the first professional woman gospel singers.
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Arizona Dranes learned to play piano in her early teens.
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Drane had been believed to be of both African-American and Mexican descent, but research by Michael Corcoran for He Is My Story: the Sanctified Soul of Arizona Dranes disproved Mexican heritage.
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Arizona Dranes's name was spelled "Drane" at school, though she was billed as "Dranes" later in life.
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Around 1922, Arizona Dranes joined the Church of God in Christ Church in Wichita Falls.
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Arizona Dranes soon became a favored singer-pianist of the founder, Bishop Charles Mason and was well utilized in the COGIC circles.
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Arizona Dranes introduced piano accompaniment to Holiness music, which had previously been largely a cappella, and accompanied herself in the barrelhouse and ragtime styles popular at the time.
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Arizona Dranes began recording in 1926 with Okeh Records, first as a solo artist and later with choirs and various other artists and groups.
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Arizona Dranes was one of the first professional women gospel singers and sang at COGIC meetings in the Bible Belt, touring Texas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
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Arizona Dranes moved to Los Angeles in 1948 and died there on July 27,1963.
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Later gospel artists, such as Roberta Martin and Clara Ward, were heavily influenced by her piano playing; Arizona Dranes' nasal singing style influenced artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe.