Neko Case

Martin Simpson

Michelle Shocked

Greensky Bluegrass

website

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt

John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt. Born in either 1892 or 93 died November 2, 1966 was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. He was completely self-taught, spending much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farmhand into the 1920s. His fast, highly syncopated style of playing made his music adept for dancing. After the commercial failure of early recordings and Okeh Records going out of business during the Great Depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances. In 1963, a folk musicologist, Tom Hoskinswas able to locate Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi using the lyrics of Hurt’s song"Avalon Blues":[9] Avalon, my home town, always on my mind/Avalon, my home town. While in Avalon, Hoskins convinced an apprehensive Hurt to perform several songs for him, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced, and seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, Hoskins encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and begin performing on a wider stage. His performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new folk revival audience. Before his death he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records. Much of his repertoire was recorded for the Library of Congress. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs "Salty Dog" and "Candy Man", and the blues ballads "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie".[5] Hurt's influence spanned several music genres including blues, spirituals, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which consisted of a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music.[8] Hurt died on November 2, 1966, of a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.

Sweet Water Women

Nortroniks

Johnny Rawls - Otis Clay

Hannah Rose Graves and Justin Wierenga

Beatlejazz

Bela Fleck

Poco

Laurie Anderson

The New Agrarians

Pierre Bensusan

The New Orleans Suspects

Greg Brown

website

Mick Ronson

1974

Feist

Ween

Jessica In The Rainbow

facebook

Tommy Castro

The Sweet Lowdown

Carolyn Koebel

Kalamazoo percussionist

website

Dave Matthews Band

Glenn Bulthuis

website

Chet Atkins

Ingrid Michaelson

Southpaw Steel 'n' Twang

Mindi Abair

Wilco

Manchester Orchestra

The Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo

Billy Boy Arnold

COMPILATIONS

website

The Appleseed Collective

website

Simone

The Elders

Ben Ottewell