List of Piedmont blues musicians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Piedmont blues (also known as Piedmont fingerstyle) is a type of blues music characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. The result is comparable in sound to a ragtime piano. The Piedmont blues typically refers to a greater area than Piedmont, which refers to the East Coast of the United States from about Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. Piedmont blues musicians come from this area, as well as Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida. It was made popular in the early twentieth century. Below is a list of musicians that perform or who have performed in the genre.
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For more information, see Piedmont blues.
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
[edit] A
- Pink Anderson - (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Anderson was an early country blues guitarist and singer who performed Piedmont blues. Many of his recordings have been released by Prestige Records.
[edit] B
- Etta Baker - (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006) Born in Caldwell County, North Carolina, Baker a country blues guitarist, banjo player and singer who performed Piedmont blues. In the 1990s she released two solo albums, one for Rounder Records. In 2004 Music Maker Records released some recording she did with Taj Mahal in 1956 and 1998.
- Scrapper Blackwell - (February 21, 1903 – October 27, 1962) Born in Syracuse, North Carolina as Francis Hillman Blackwell, Scrapper Blackwell performed acoustic Piedmont blues and an early exponent of Chicago blues who worked closely with pianist Leroy Carr. He also backed singer Black Bottom McPhail. Document Records has issued most of his work in three volumes.
- Blind Blake - (c. 1895 – 1937) Born in Jacksonville, Florida, guitarist and singer Blind Blake played almost every form of music imaginable. He performed early ragtime on guitar, Piedmont blues, country blues, Delta blues and Chicago blues. A musician of great importance, he recorded frequently for Paramount Records.
[edit] C
- John Cephas - Born September 4, 1930 in Washington, D.C. but raised in Bowling Green, Virginia, contemporary blues musician Cephas plays country blues guitar, harmonica and sings, performing in the Piedmont blues vein. He has recorded a number of albums to date, notably for the Alligator Records label.
- Jaybird Coleman - (May 20, 1896 – January 28, 1950) Born in Gainesville, Alabama, Coleman was a country blues harmonica player, guitarist and singer who performed early Piedmont blues and harmonica blues active most in the 1930s. His career fizzled out and he was left to perform as a street act in Alabama. Document Records has issued a compilation of all of his recordings.
[edit] D
[edit] F
[edit] H
- Peg Leg Howell - (March 5, 1888 – August 11, 1968) Born in Eatonton, Georgia as Joshua Barnes Howell, Howell was an amputee missing one leg who taught himself to play guitar and sing. He performed acoustic country blues in the Piedmont blues style, spending most of his career in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1926 or so until 1929 he recorded for Columbia Records, then fell off into obscurity shortly after (eventually losing his other leg to diabetes).
[edit] J
- Luke Jordan - (January 28, 1892 – June 25, 1952) Born in Bluefield, West Virginia, Jordan was a country blues guitarist of the Piedmont blues and East Coast blues variety who spent most of his career in Lynchburg, Virginia. Though not many recordings survive of his, Jordan was undeniably a major early influence on musicians in the Piedmont style.
[edit] L
- Charley Lincoln - March 11, 1900 – September 28, 1963 Born in Lithonia, Georgia, Lincoln was an acoustic country and Piedmont blues guitarist and vocalist. He was the brother of Barbecue Bob, with whom he performed from the 1920s on into the 1950s. He made several recording, some for Columbia Records.
[edit] M
- Carl Martin
- Sara Martin
- Brownie McGhee
- Buddy Moss
- Blind Willie McTell
[edit] R
[edit] S
[edit] T
- Baby Tate
- Sonny Terry
