Blackberri
Band:Gunther Quint
Genres:Blues
Born:05/31/1945
Died:12/13/2021
From: Buffalo, New York
Musician Speciality:Singer/Guitar
Biography:
Blackberri (born Charles Timothy Ashmore;[1] May 31, 1945 – December 13, 2021)[2] was an American singer-songwriter and community activist. His music focused on issues such as civil rights, LGBT rights, and pollution.[3] During the AIDS epidemic, Blackberri worked in HIV education and prevention in Black communities.
Early life
Blackberri was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Baltimore.[4]
Blackberri was drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1965.[1] He was discharged in 1966 for being gay. Blackberri stated “I was under investigation because one of my shipmates turned me in … they had evidence, they arrested me, went through my personal belongings and found incriminating letters and other things.”[4] He got stranded in New York City, washing dishes and doing drugs.[3]
Career
Blackberri studied voice at University of Arizona and sang the blues.[3] In Tucson, he started a rock band, Gunther Quint, with his first song “Frenchie”, about a one-night stand before his discharge. While living in a feminist collective in 1970, he was named Blackberri, and changed his name legally.[4][5]
Blackberri moved to San Francisco in 1974 and joined Breeze while busking to earn money. He dated Reiner, a blues guitar player from the East Coast.[4] In 1975, Blackberri’s performance at the Two Songmakers concert was broadcast on KQED. This was the first gay-themed music featured on television in San Francisco.[6] In 1981, he released Blackberri and Friends: Finally.[4] He contributed to films Tongues Untied, Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, and Looking for Langston.[2]
During the AIDS epidemic, Blackberri supported HIV education and prevention in the African-American LGBT community.[4][6] He was a death counselor at San Francisco General Hospital AIDS Ward through the Shanti Project.
In 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement AIDS Hero Award at San Francisco Candlelight Vigil.[4] In 2017, he received the Audrey Joseph Entertainment Award from San Francisco Pride.[2] In 2019, his song “Eat the Rich” was included in Patrick Haggerty‘s Lavender Country.[7]
Personal life and death
Blackberri was a Lucumi priest who traveled to Cuba thirteen times.[1]
He had a heart attack in October 2021, and died on December 13, 2021, at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California, at age 76.[2]