James Arthur "Boo" Hanks was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer.
16 Facts About Boo Hanks
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Boo Hanks was billed as the last of the Piedmont blues musicians.
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Boo Hanks was born in Vance County, North Carolina, United States, to the late Eddie and Fannie Hargrove Boo Hanks.
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Boo Hanks's heritage came from ancestors that variously were African American and Occaneechi.
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Boo Hanks bought his first guitar from the money he raised selling packets of garden seeds.
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Boo Hanks learned to play, and tune his guitar, purely by ear, and picked up a delicate finger-style method of guitar picking.
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However, Boo Hanks never played outside his locale until he was aged 79, and worked in the tobacco fields up to that time.
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Boo Hanks was a farmer for over two decades, but was employed by Russell Stover Candies, Lenox, and later at the TOP Tobacco Factory in Oxford, North Carolina.
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In 2007, Boo Hanks made his first recording, Pickin' Low Cotton, at age 79.
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In 2008, Boo Hanks appeared in a documentary film, Toots Blues.
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In 2010, the Music Maker Relief Foundation helped Boo Hanks obtain a passport, purchased a new trailer for him and provided an allowance towards his medication and food.
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Dom Flemons had been at the Music Maker office the day Boo Hanks arrived, and their growing friendship led to a collaborative recording of the album, Buffalo Junction, named for Boo Hanks' hometown.
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In July 2015, Hanks was on the same bill as Lightnin' Wells and Ironing Board Sam at a concert in the Sarah P Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
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Boo Hanks performed at The Prizery in South Boston, Virginia, and the Clarksville Fine Arts Center.
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Boo Hanks died on April 15,2016, at the Select Specialty Hospital, in Durham, North Carolina.
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Boo Hanks was survived by five daughters; one son and one daughter predeceased him.