Leola Manning was a singer who walked the line between the blues and gospel music. At the age of 25 she was recorded at the St. James Hotel, in Knoxville, Tennessee, which 'for several months in 1929 and early 1930, ...doubled as a recording studio'. There were two sessions. The first session took place on 28 August 1929, the second on 4 April 1930.

There is an interesting article which looks at the stories behind her most famous songs, "Satan Is Busy In Knoxville", which seems to have been about a real murder and "The Arcade Building Moan" which described a terrible fire that took place in Knoxville just a couple of weeks before she recorded the song:

http://www.lynnpoint.com/st_james/moan.htm
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