Thursday, May 11, 2006

Honeyboy Edwards

Last night I went to see Honeyboy Edwards at a show hosted by the Old Town School of Folk Music (where I take guitar classes). This guy is a blues guitar legend. He'll turn 91 years old this July. 91! Unreal. One thing that makes him so special is that he's one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, a founder of Delta Blues who died in 1938. Honeyboy was even with Johnson on the night he died. Johnson is cited as an influence by tons of famous musicians, including Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin and U2, to name a few. The show was solid. He's old and slowed down some, but he still plays deliberately and with precision, with a raspy hollow voice. It was definitely worth seeing. You can catch him at the Chicago Blues Festival this June 8-11.

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