Also known as the East Coast Blues or the Southeastern Blues, the main style centered around the guitar finger picking style that bared a resemblance to ragtime. On the right hand, the thumb would cover a solid bass line while other fingers would play syncopated melodies. The term, "Piedmont blues" was conceived by researcher Peter B. Lowery and folklorist Bruce Bastin. The Piedmont Plateau region spans the east coast from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. According to Nick Spitzer (Prof. of Anthropology and folklorist) in this region “black and white economic and cultural patterns have overlapped considerably, more so than in the nearby areas or the Deep South. Piedmont blues styles reflects this, meshing traces of gospel, fiddle tunes, blues, country, and ragtime into its rolling, exuberant sound.” However, musicians who adopted the Piedmont style hailed from as far north as Maryland, Delaware and later New York and Pennsylvania, to the southern states of Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

REVEREND GARY DAVIS

Gary Davis (a.k.a. Blind Gary Davis, a.k.a. Reverend Gary Davis) was born in Laurens, South Carolina in 1896. According to his account, he went blind in his early infancy. His parents eventually moved him to the care of his paternal grandmother. At age 10 his father was killed in Birmingham, AL. As a kid he sang in choir then took an interest in guitar. He developed his own style of finger picking, using his thumb and index finger to play gospel, blues and ragtime but also doing traditional pieces with 4 part harmonies. In the mid 1920’s, Durham North Carolina is where he got immersed in the Piedmont scene and began collaborating with its musicians, among them Bull City Red and Blind Boy Fuller (a student of his). These 3 were introduced to the American Record Company via local store owner, and music enthusiast, J.B. Long in 1935. By then he was steeped in the gospel music scene, having been converted to Christianity. Two of his big hits were “Samson and Delilah” and “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”. The former was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and the royalties allowed him to buy a house and live fairly comfortably until he passed away in 1972. His influence made its way into the folk/rock scene via artists like the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.

BLIND WILLIE MCTELL

William Samuel McTell was born in 1898, in Thompson, GA. He was born blind in one eye and, by late childhood, he lost vision in the other. He excelled in the music programs at school in accordion and harmonica. He learned to play guitar from his mother. When his mother passed away in the 1920’s, he left home and became a “songster” or “itinerant musician”. He played popular tunes, ragtime, gospel and reels throughout Atlanta and Augusta, GA. His first record deal was with Victor in 1927. Some of these recordings included “Statesboro Blues” and “Three Women Blues”. He didn’t sell a lot of records because this was the beginning of the Great Depression. His style was fluid and syncopated in the rag tradition. He used a 12 string guitar for finger picking and slide styles. He played many different styles including blues, ragtime, religious music and hokum.

ELIZABETH COTTON

Elizabeth Cotton (a.k.a. Libba Cotton) was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1893. The youngest of 5 kids, she was only known in the home as “Lil Sis”. So she named herself Elizabeth on her first day of school. By age 8 she was learning music. In her early childhood she would sneak into her brother’s room, in his absence, and practice on his guitar and banjo. At age 9 she had to leave school and joined the domestic work force. By age 12 she was finally able to afford her own guitar and began to teach herself and develop her own style. The “Cotton Style” was picking out bass lines with her fingers to accompany the melodies she was playing with her thumb (as she was left handed). In her early teens she wrote “Freight Train” which would later become popularized. Meanwhile, at 15, she married Frank Cotton and left her music behind for many years. While working at a department store, one day she helped a lost child find her mother. This child was Peggy Seeger and her parents Ruth Crawford Seeger (composer and teacher) and ethnomusicologists Mike Seeger invited her to work at their home. In 1958, at 62, she finally recorded her first album, “Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs” with the aid of Mike Seeger. This song also became well known during the folk revival of the 1960’s.

While the Piedmont blues style was well established from the roots of those African Americans that occupied the southeast from the day of their arrival, this population didn’t make its way to Texas, in any significant number, until after the Emancipation Proclamation in in 1863. In the early 1900’s, the black population began to migrate out west to Texas to work in lumber yards, cattle ranches and oil fields. While still maintaining the themes of hardship, oppression and love life struggles, and the call and response delivery, the music that came from this region has elements of jazz, but with more of a hard driving swing to it (compared to Piedmont blues). Barrelhouse (juke joint) blues style started in Vicksburg, MS, but became very popular in the Texas blues scene. It featured energetic piano derived from the boogie woogie style. As the Texas blues evolved, it began to show elements of blues rock and southern rock.

BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON

"Blind" Lemon Henry Jefferson was born in 1883 on a farm in Couchman, TX. In his early adult years he moved to Dallas and was a street musician who became a big local hit. His style was very intense and his playing was considered “spasmodic” by the more musically literate. He would play in the recognized 12-bar blues fashion but he would often drop or add a beat to add excitement or drama. His voice was clear, loud and in the tenor register. Paramount found him and released “Got The Blues” and “Long and Lonesome Blues” in 1926. Between this time and 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression, has been said to be the most prolific era for early blues recordings.

LED BELLY

Huddie William Ledbetter (a.k.a. Leadbelly) was born in 1889 on a plantation on Mooringsport, on the Louisiana side of Caddo Lake, between the northern borders of Texas and Louisiana. When he was 5, his family moved to Bowie County, Texas. His first instrument was an accordion given to him by his uncle. By 1903, he was a well known singer/guitarist. He was performing in a lot in Shreveport on Fannin Street, a row of pubs, brothels and dance halls. This is where he formed his sound. In his 20’s, having fathered 2 children, he ventured away from home to earn a living for his family playing guitar and taking labor jobs. Between the years of 1915 and 1939 he served several prison sentences including 30 years for murder. In 1925, he wrote a song asking for clemency, which was granted by Governor Pat Neff. However, it wasn’t until 1933 when he was visited during another sentence in Angola prison, by father and son folklorists John and Alan Lomax, until his music took more public notice. The Lomaxes were working on a project for the Library of Congress and recorded him on a portable aluminum disc. They loved it so much they came back a year later with better equipment and recorded hundreds more of his songs. Some of these include “In The Pines”, “Midnight Special”, “Goodnight Irene” “Pick a Bale Of Cotton” and “Boweevil”. The Lomaxes took one of the records to Governor Oskar Allen, along with a petition was for release, which was granted.

T-BONE WALKER

Aaron Thibeaux Walker (a.k.a. T-Bone Walker) was born in 1918, in Linden Texas. Both parents (Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker) were musicians. After Movelia and Rance's divorce, Marco Washington became his step father. Marco taught a young T-Bone to play ukulele, banjo, guitar, violin, mandolin and piano. His mother and step father were also friends with Blind Lemon Jefferson who would often join them for dinner. At age 10, he left school and by 15 he was a professional performer in the Dallas blues scene. He became Blind Lemon Jefferson's student and his guide through Deep Ellum, Dallas. In 1929, he got his first recording deal with Columbia Records and released “Trinity River Blues” and “Wichita Falls” under the name Oak Cliff T-Bone. By 1935, at 25, he was married with 3 kids and playing clubs in Los Angeles. In 1940, he was introduced to the electric guitar. A couple of years later he was traveling to Chicago to play at the Rhumboogie Café. Between 1946 and 1948 is when he did a majority of his recordings with Black and White Records. Some of these includes “Call it Stormy Monday (But Tuesday's Just As Bad)”, “Bobby Sox Blues” and “Good Bye Blues”. He also recorded with Imperial Records in the early 1950’s and Atlantic Records in the late 50’s. By the 1960’s he slowed down performing and recording and in 1975 he died of bronchial pneumonia. T-Bones music is closer to what we think of as the sound of modern blues.