Lottie Beaman-Kimbrough

Billed as 'The Kansas City Butterball,' Lottie Kimbrough was a massive, booming contralto who recorded for Gennett, Paramount, and Merrit in the 1920s. Bridging vaudeville classic blues and rawer country blues, she collaborated with her brother Sylvester Weaver and Winston Holmes. Her recordings are vital documents of the early Midwest blues scene before she vanished from the historical record.