calsfoundation@cals.org
December 21, 1902
William Bunch, known as “Peetie Wheatstraw,” was born in Ripley, Tennessee, although some accounts list Bunch’s birthplace as Arkansas. Bunch was raised in Cotton Plant (Woodruff County) and became one of the most popular and widely imitated bluesmen of the 1930s and 1940s. He was an incredibly successful pianist, recording more than 160 songs between 1930 and 1941.