Hill country blues

[Burton M]

Just wondered if Brian has ever done a lesson on Hill country blues or would consider it?

Topic

[JoLa]

Hi Burton,

What a great question! I had to look up what Hill Country Blues even was when I saw your question and I absolutely love what I have found!

Although Brian never mentioned Hill Country Blues by this label, there are elements of it in many of his lessons. You may want to check out for example EP430, EP416, EP220, or EP036.

I think Brian would definitely consider it but you would have to email him that request directly to [email protected]

♪JoLa

[Denise]

I looked it up too and like JoLa, I absolutely love the style!
I’ve heard that Blues from different musicians (like Justin Johnson) but didn’t know that there is a name for the style. It would be really great to have a deeper dive Hill Country Blues Brian’s lesson.
Denise

That great Gretsch and Telly sound!

[Mark H]

It gets more complicated the more you dive. It might be fun to build a helpful list some of the great exemplars of Mississippi Hill Country Blues. I’ll start with who immediately comes to mind.

Joe Callicott. So solid a fingerpicker, great voice, compositions and lyrics. A guitarist that all guitarists would respect after trying to copy them. Probably second in sheer groove to only the maestro, Mississippi John Hurt.

Garfield Akers, who played with Joe on the earth shattering (to me) Cottonfield Blues Parts 1 and 2 in the 1920s recordings. If I were to attempt to describe what they achieved in that jam session it would be “expressionism”.

Mississippi Sheiks. They were from Jackson MS. Great band, loads of recordings, musicianship in earnest. But you gotta work at it. I had a Sheiks phase so flat keys sound cool to me these days. Bo Carter & Sam Chatmon of the Sheiks both recorded solo bodies of work.

RL Burnside. His early acoustic recordings (with a rediscovered Joe Callicott on the same record) on Arhoolie Records from the 1960s blew me away and still does. He got pretty wild later but you could hear the same sense of groove.

Since I briefly mentioned Mississippi John Hurt from Avalon MS I’ve just got to mention him again. He has it all. Groove, chops, sense of humor, humility, kindness. His Mississippi John Hurt Today, Live At Oberlin recordings on Vanguard tipped so many players over the edge into the endless — some might say “mindless” 🙂, quest for nailing that rock solid alternating bass, me included. His playing is often lumped-in with great Piedmont players like Blind Boy Fuller & Willie Walker, but he was rural MS to the core. His life story is fascinating, you have to read a lot of disparate things to get a sense of it.

Edit later: Does Fred McDowell fit in here? I’ll research where he lived and report back.
Later still: Yes he does. He was a farmer in Como MS, born in Rossville TN. Great first line for a song.

[William F]

Check out Luther Dickinson and the North Mississippi Allstars for a contemporary take on it.

[Author]

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