Delta and Piedmont Blues, Ragtime and Appalachian Styles |
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| From the primitive "diddley board" to the finest pre-war Gibson to the gleaming National, the acoustic guitar became America's instument of choice to express the hope and fear, the joy and sorrow, the laugh and mournful cry of its people..... |
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....These traditions live on. "Unplugged" is not the same as "never-was-plugged-in". This music is no longer confined to scratchy 78's or re-releases by small independent record labels. Second and third generation artists, and even a few of the first generation, carry on the styles that originated in the levee camps and barrel houses of the Delta, the house parties and cakewalks of the Piedmont and the coal towns and barn dances of Appalachia. Whether playing a classic tribute or an original tune, these artists play with the true feel of their predecessors. |
The Finest Traditional Guitarists Touring Today | ||||||
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John Jackson |
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John's style is the purest distilation of country blues to be found today. He began playing in the early '30s, learning blues from a trustee on a convict labor gang near his family's farm in Virginia. John has been declared a living National Treasure by our government. If you see him perform, you'll understand why. A fine guitarist and a fine man, John truly is a living treasure.
[On January 21, 2002, John passed away at his home in Virginia with his friends and family around him. The world has lost one its finest treasures, and I have lost a friend.] "...'til we meet once more to sing again, and the last note fades away...." |
"Bowling Green" John Cephas |
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| Usually accompanied by virtuoso harmonicist Phil Wiggins, John's dynamic renditions of East Coast-style blues is like thunder rolling across the Piedmont Plain. His rich vocals drip like bitter honey. Together they create the powerful blues that have brought audiences to their feet from Kennedy Center to Peking to Sydney. Bowling Green Cephas lets you know that traditional acoustic blues is alive-'n-kickin' ass. True to his craft, true to his style, John Cephas is a true "Bluesman". |
Paul Geremia |
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| On the road since the early sixties, stopping along the way only long enough to learn more of his craft from the old masters he would meet, like Son House or Pink Anderson, Paul Geremia is one of the most versatile and, technically, probably the finest acoustic blues guitarist alive. From the mournful cry of a slide on a twelve-string, in the style of Blind Willie McTell, or a Bo Carter fingerstyle tour-de-force, to one of his own biting, slice-of-life originals, to see Geremia play will make you want to either practice twelve hours a day for the rest of your life or shake your head and toss your guitar into the fireplace. |
Roy Bookbinder |
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| Roy is a true modern-day minstrel. A protégé of the Reverend Gary Davis, among others, Roy's combination of music and his inimitable wry wit is quite a show. Both in this country and abroad, the "Travelin' Man" can be seen both on the festival circuit and in smaller venues. |
David "Honeyboy" Edwards |
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| Honeyboy Edwards, now in his middle 80's, still tours frequently. Often accompanied by skilled rub-board artist and harmonicist, Rick "Cookin' " Sherry, he can often be seen playing in his hometown Chicago and elsewhere. Honeyboy, Johnny Shines and Robert Johnson hung around together in Greenwood, Mississippi in the late 1930's. Honey was with Robert as he was dying. It probably isn' t easy living in the shadow of a legend who "sold his soul at the crossroads." But Honeyboy is a great bluesman in his own rite. His music is raw and powerful. Its rhythms turn and twist like a knife in your soul. The cuts he made for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's are among the finest examples of Delta Blues ever recorded, and Honeyboy has only improved with age. See a part of blues history. See Honeyboy Edwards. |
Jody Stecher |
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| There is no finer example of Old Time mountain musicianship than Jody Stecher. His playing is clean as a mountain spring. He knows all the tunes, the tunings and the techniques of every mountain and 'holler' between Barbourville, Kentucky and Calhoun Falls, South Carolina. His voice is as rich and sweet as wildberry wine. Often performing with his wife, Kate Brislin, their instrumental duets and vocal harmonies can, if you close your eyes, take you back (if you were very lucky growing up) to a warm evening in June on your great-grandparent's front porch, full of fireflies and stars and "the old songs". |
....and here are a few of the best traditional guitarists of the past who laid the foundations of our American musical heritage.... | ||||||||
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Edward "Son" House |
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| Son House was perhaps the father of Blues as we know it today. As a teenager, Robert Johnson tagged along with Son as sort of a 'go-fer' for the chance to learn from him. Son's music was raw and powerful, as dark and tormented as Son himself, who was torn between the church and salvation and playing what was percieved as "the Devil's music". |
Robert Johnson |
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| Perhaps the most famous of the early bluesmen was Robert Johnson. Many of his songs have been done by other musicians, both white and black, including "Love In Vain", "Dust My Broom" and, probably the best known, "Crossroads". Said to have sold his soul to the devil for his skill and fame, he released twenty-nine recordings before his untimely murder, probably by a jealous husband. Robert's music is powerful and haunting, moving between despair and rage. The movie "Crossroads" revolves around the Robert Johnson legend and, though definitely not an Oscar-caliber piece of work, the video is well worth seeing to establish a feel for the time and place. |
Jimmie Rogers |
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| Jimmie was a traveling troubador who often played with musicians from the "wrong side of the tracks". He blended these styles with the mountain and southern music of the times into own. He became commercially successful and was even featured in several full-length "talkies" and "shorts" of the day. |
Skip James |
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| Skip James played in a very different style than most of his contemporaries, a very haunting kind of blues unique to the area around Bentonia, Mississippi, where he was from. He recorded in the early '30's, but was "rediscovered" in the folk music revival of the '60's and recorded several more excellent albums. Today, his style is probably best demonstrated by Bowling Green John Cephas, who knew Skip. |
Sam McGee |
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Sam was both a guitarist and banjo player. He played with tremendous energy, entering a state of almost total abandon as he played. He was a true wildman.
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Robert Pete Williams |
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| There is no other guitarist who plays like Robert Pete Williams. He was totally untrained and used the guitar to pull "air music", as he called it, from the wind. His style was maximum free-form acoustic blues that could transmit a feeling of forlorn, wistful, hopeless resignation to life like no other blues could. His music reflected the tremendously hard life that he lived. From Louisiana, his music wove a fine thread of bayou feel through the intense African rhythms of his work. Some try, but no one can really play like Robert Pete Williams. |
Music By All The Artists Above Is Available At Some Of The Better Music Stores. Actual Historical Footage Of Some Of Them Is Reproduced On VideoIf you've never experienced the raw power and heart-felt soul of this kind of music, it's worth the time it takes to find it. |
.....and starting to emerge from the host of acoustic guitarists playing around is yet another group of traditional players whose careers, and performances, bear watching. Among them are: | ||||||||
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This page is just a starting point. Here are some links that can take you much farther "down that long, lonesome road", whether as a listener or as a performer.... | ||||||
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this page is dedicated to:
~to the lovely Miss Phyllis, who still manages to put up with me after all these years. |