Chatmon had a very musical family, all of them lived in Mississippi. Two of Sam's brothers, fiddler Lonnie Chatmon and guitarist Bo Carter, performed with guitarist Walter Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks. Chatmon himself was a member of the family's string band when he was young. He performed all the time for white audiences in the 1900s.[1]
Chatmon played the banjo, mandolin, harmonica and the guitar. He played at parties and on street corners in Mississippi for money and tips. In the 1930s he recorded songs with his brothers.
Later life
Chatmon moved to Hollandale, Mississippi in the early 1940s and worked on plantations in Hollandale. He started playing again in 1960, playing mostly blues music. In the same year, he recorded songs for Arhoolie Records. He went on tours in the 1960s and 1970s and played for many festivals such as the Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. in 1972, the Mariposa Fest in Toronto in 1974, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1976.
