Mama Edwina, Mama Dot and Mama Dee came together for three days in Baltimore to play music, share life stories, and explore the connection between drumming and healing. I was a “visiting folklorist,” along with Rory Turner and Sally Van de Water, there to focus on the traditionality and expression found within and between the drum beats. Our conversations dug down to the root of this music, and we found a rich legacy of music-making tangled among strong individual expression.