Lucille Hegamin

A classic blues singer from the 1920's, Lucille Hegamin survived long enough to be recorded again in the 1960's. She sang in a church choir and locally before touring at age 15 with the Leonard Harper Revue. She was married to pianist Bill Hegamin from 1914-23. After performing in Seattle for a long period, Hegamin became one of the first blues singers to record, cutting "Jazz Me Blues" and "Everybody's Blues" in Nov. 1920, shortly after moving to New York. She toured with her Blue Flame Syncopators and later on led the Dixie Daisies. In addition to performing at clubs, Hegamin appeared in several Broadway shows in the 1920's. She worked with Doc Hyder's Southernaires later in the decade and performed at Atlantic City in 1933-34 but eventually left music, becoming a nurse in 1938. In the 1960's she emerged, appearing at a few charity benefits before retiring from music again. In all, Lucille Hegamin recorded 68 selections during 1920-26, two songs in 1932, appeared on part of a 1961 Bluesville LP (resulting in four titles) and recorded three additional cuts on a 1962 Spivey album.