'Honeyboy' Edwards is still feeling the blues at age 90.Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard David "Honeyboy" Edwards is a blues elder. As one of the few remaining original practitioners of acoustic Mississippi Delta This article is about the geographic region of the U.S. state of Mississippi. For other uses, see Mississippi Delta (disambiguation). The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo blues, the 90-year-old Edwards is a bridge to the past. At 14, he hit the road with Big Joe Williams. In the '30s, he played Delta juke joints with a number of contemporaries - Son House, Big Walter Horton Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton (April 6, 1917– December 8, 1981) was an American blues harmonica player. Born Walter Horton in Horn Lake, Mississippi, he was playing a harmonica by the time he was five years old. , Homesick James Homesick James (30 April, 1910[1] - 13 December 2006) was a black American blues musician. He is believed to have been born John William Henderson, but later used the name James A. Williamson and was sometimes referred to as Homesick James Williamson. and the legendary Robert Johnson Robert Johnson may refer to:
How well did he know Johnson? As he told interviewer Tony Bonyata in 2002, he heard the story about Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads - from Johnson himself. He also can offer an eyewitness account of the night of Aug. 13, 1938, when Johnson was fatally poisoned in a Greenwood, Miss., juke joint. Now, Edwards is bringing his original blues to Eugene, for the first in a series of Roots & Rhythm concerts produced by Jerry Zybach's Stand Up Productions and the Event Managers. The show will be Sunday at the Hilton Eugene. `We decided a few months back that we wanted to figure out a way to get some of the older blues people through here,' said Kate Close, Zybach's partner in Stand Up. "We knew that they were passing through on their way up to bigger gigs, but we're not getting to see them, and they're slowly but surely passing on." The idea, Close said, is to bring someone to town, add some local talent to the bill and turn the whole thing into a benefit for a local charity. This inaugural event on Sunday will benefit FOOD for Lane County. Joining Edwards will be his longtime harmonica harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called his instrument the Mundäoline. player, Michael Franks. The local talent on the bill includes Zybach's new outfit, the Blues Scoundrels, finger-style guitarist Mary Flower, popular local bluesman Eagle Park Slim and the Inkwell inkwell GI surgery A surgically constructed vagination-'intussusception' of a short sleeve of esophagus sewn into the stomach which, as intragastric pressure ↑, is compressed, forming a functional valve–eg, Nissen fundoplication. See Nissen procedure. Rhythm Makers. `There are a lot of artists around this area that do the same style or close to it who don't get seen or don't get the exposure,' Zybach said. "So we're bringing those guys in.' Zybach recently caught Edwards' set at the Rogue Valley The Rogue Valley is a farming and timber-producing region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. located along the middle Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine and Jackson counties, the valley forms the cultural and economic heart of southern Oregon near the California Blues Festival in Ashland and was impressed with how vital the elder statesman is. `You wouldn't know he was 90 at all," Zybach said. As the allmusic.com Web site notes, Edwards has been an "underappreciated" figure until recently: `His slashing, Delta-drenched guitar and gruff vocals are as authentic as it gets.' His music has been recorded on the legendary Chess and Sun labels. His musical legacy is cemented by membership in the Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues. Inductees 2007
Additionally, in 1942 he cut 15 tracks with noted folklorist Alan Lomax for inclusion in the Library of Congress. For Edwards, the key to his Delta blues For the racehorse, see . This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since June 2007. is "feeling." As he told Bonyata in '02, `You got to play blues with feeling. You got to have a feeling with it. ... `Blues isn't made to be played fast, not unless you're playing rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. or uptempo blues.' CONCERT PREVIEW David "Honeyboy" Edwards With: Michael Frank, Jerry Zybach and His Blues Scoundrels, Mary Flower, Eagle Park Slim and the Inkwell Rhythm Makers When: 4 p.m. Sunday Where: Hilton Eugene, 66 W. Sixth Ave. How much: $15 plus two cans of food; tickets available at the Hilton Eugene front desk or online at www.theeventmanagers .com or www.stagehogs .com CAPTION(S): David "Honeyboy" Edwards is in the Blues Hall of Fame. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion