Help in the hunt for unknown blind Virginia bluesman. A Virginia musician has launched a search for the street performer who introduced him to the blues in the 1950s. Bill Jenkins, leader of veteran bluegrass outfit The Virginia Mountain Boys [pictured second right], was inspired to start playing by the figure who stood on the streets of downtown Newport News. He tells the Daily Press: “I used to love to listen to that old man play. He was blind – he had this little cup where people would give him tips. His daughter would come and pick him up every afternoon. He was always there; I remember him clear as day.” Jenkins was six or seven years old at the time, but always managed to find a few cents to leave in the man’s cup as he delivered classics on a Gibson J-45 guitar. I used to get chills listening to him, he remembers. He’d play these old blues songs, raw and plain. He made a lot of mistakes – but he could curl your toes. He hopes to identify the man who left such an impression on him, and contact his family with a view to getting a photograph. Finding the man, says Jenkins, would be “like Fortune’s wheel coming round.” He adds: “This guy has never left my mind. Whenever I pick up the guitar and play and old blues tune, he’s there.” Anyone with information regarding the blind bluesman’s identity is invited to contact smcdonald@dailypress.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:39:16 +0000
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