from Trinidad and Tobago, now plays bones, washboard, and harmonica. A senior art director / graphic designer by trade, he designs his own, elaborate musical washboards, and even has his own line of these unique percussion instruments which he calls "Darlington Washboards". Benedict taught himself to play bones and studied washboard with both Washboard Chaz from Louisiana, and Newman Taylor Baker who often played with the New York City based Ebony Hillbillies. Benedict is quoted as saying, "African Americans didn't always have money for expensive store-bought instruments and, being ingenious, found ways to make music by using common household items like spoons, washtubs, bones, jugs, and washboards. I'm just doing my part to continue this tradition. As the duo 'Piedmont Blūz'; the duo have been featured in many festivals including the Chicago Blues Festival. Internationally, they have performed in Ireland, Germany, Spain, and Israel. Other appearances include Blues in the Gorge in Corbett, Oregon, the Harvest Time Blues Festival in Monaghan, Ireland, Jacob’s Ladder Festival in Sea of Galilee, Israel, the Tel Aviv Blues Festival in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel, plus the Brooklyn Folk Festival in Brooklyn, New York. Publishing In 2017, Turner authored and edited a book entitled Piedmont Style Country Blues Guitar Basics, designed by Benedict Turner, and published by their company, Mudbone Watson Productions Inc. The easy-to-follow instruction guide contains Piedmont style blues arrangements for country blues guitar with audio files and lyrics for 23 tunes. It is a curriculum, a course in understanding country blues guitar using various keys, tunings, timings, standard notation, tablature, chord charts, and fingerpicking techniques. This book has been acquired by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Musical style Her guitar style is influenced by her mentor John Cephas. Turner's guitar playing is said to be in the tradition of Mississippi John Hurt, Etta Baker, and Elizabeth Cotten. Teaching Turner teaches guitar workshops in Piedmont style finger picking, while her husband teaches percussion workshops using washboards and bones. Together, they teach early blues history workshops. Instruments Ron Phillips single cone parlor resonator guitar 1929 Art-i-so parlor guitar Discography 2015 - Country Blues Selections - the album is an eclectic collection of songs from the country blues tradition. 2019 - Ambassadors of Country Blues - the album includes a variety of blues, gospel, and traditional pieces. Honors and awards 2018 – New York Blues Hall of Fame (Valerie Turner - Great