Flora Molton

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Flora Molton

Flora E. Molton (born Flora Rollins) was an American street singer and slide guitarist who performed gospel and blues in Washington, D.C., from the 1940s until shortly before her death in 1990.

Early life
She was born on March 12, 1908, in Louisa County, Virginia. She was partly blind from birth because of cataracts. Her father was a minister and her mother was an organist. Molton grew up with strong religious influence and also loved the blues, listening to singers like Bessie Smith. She began preaching at 17 and started a home ministry in the Holiness Church. In 1937 she moved to Washington, D.C., to find work and help support her family.

Music career
Molton started singing on the streets in 1942. She played slide guitar in a bottleneck style, often tapping a tambourine with her foot and adding harmonica and a microphone as she went. Passersby left tips in a plastic pail attached to her guitar. In her early years she sang blues, but over time she moved toward gospel music and what she called “truth” music, which focused on everyday struggles.

Her singing often defined the performance more than her guitar. She used open D tuning and the bottleneck slide to create a distinctive, wailing sound. Musicians sometimes accompanied her, and she sometimes performed with groups under the name Flora Molton and the Truth Band. One frequent collaborator was Phil Wiggins.

Molton did not plan public performances until 1963, when Ed Morris helped her book gigs at festivals and other venues. She appeared at events such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and she toured Europe in 1987. She is the subject of the documentary Spirit and Truth Music and appears in Blues Houseparty.

Personal life
Molton’s first husband, Haywood Bruce, left her around 1930. Her second husband, Walter Molton, died in the 1970s. She had four children: Bishop William H. Bruce, Johnny Bruce, Sarah Bruce, and Doris Anderson. She also had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Molton owned a car and was known for her independence, even with vision problems.

Later years and legacy
In the 1960s and beyond, she received recognition from the arts community and continued to perform. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded her several honors, and she toured Europe in 1987. She released recordings including Gospel Songs (made in Europe) and, earlier, Living Country Blues USA, Vol. 3 (1981). She continued singing on the streets to support herself, even into the late 1980s.

Molton died on May 31, 1990, in Washington, D.C., from liver problems. She was buried at National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland. Her contributions are remembered with historical markers in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and she remains a noted figure in American gospel and blues.