The young folk musician defies easy categorization. He grew up in a west coast metropolis, but his family and community adhered to customs from the rural south. And, like a number of people in Los Angeles with Louisiana roots, he inherited a combination of African-American, American Indian, and Jewish heritage. Paxton plays acoustic music that reflects these origins, with a focus on solo fiddle, guitar, and banjo. He also has a passion for telling his family鈥檚 story:
People don鈥檛 know who I am, so I usually tell the history of my people and where I come from. Specific history about my great-grandfather and great-grandmother on down to me. I almost feel like an ambassador of the culture. It gives me a tremendous amount of joy to know that the things and the people I grew up with -- I can pass on the lessons they taught me and the culture they鈥檝e given me.
On episode 11 of , host Dom Flemons speaks with Paxton about the formative experience of growing up in South-Central Los Angeles and the connections between Judaism and roots music as forms of cultural memory. Flemons also shares a recording of Jerron鈥檚 February 2017 live set at the Fletcher Opera Theater in Raleigh, North Carolina.
