Blues

Luther Allison (1939–1997)
Blues guitarist and singer Luther Allison was born in Arkansas, but like many of his contemporaries in the rur...
Joshua Altheimer (1911–1940)
Joshua Altheimer was one of the Delta’s most prolific blues pianists. Altheimer mastered the emerging boogi...
Arkansas River Blues Society
The Arkansas River Blues Society (ARBS), based in Little Rock (Pulaski County), began its life as the Arkansas...
Al Bell (1940–)
aka: Alvertis Isbell
Al Bell is considered the driving force behind Stax Records as a pr...
Blues Music
The origins of the blues are murky, but the state of Arkansas seems to have hosted the music and its creators ...
"Big Bill" Broonzy (1893?–1958)
aka: William Conley Lee Broonzy
Although William Lee Conley “Big Bill” Broonzy achieved fame an...
Roy Buchanan (1939–1988)
aka: Leroy Buchanan
Leroy (Roy) Buchanan was a guitar innovator whose skill inspired an...
William Bunch (1902–1941)
aka: Peetie Wheatstraw
William Bunch, known as “Peetie Wheatstraw,” was raised in Cott...
Ellis CeDell Davis (1926–2017)
Ellis CeDell Davis was a blues musician and recording artist who helped bring blues from its rural Southern ro...
Howlin' Wolf (1910–1976)
aka: Chester Arthur Burnett
Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf or Howling Wolf, w...
Louis Thomas Jordan (1908–1975)
Louis Thomas Jordan—vocalist, bandleader, and saxophonist—ruled the charts, stage, screen, and airwaves of...
King Biscuit Blues Festival
aka: Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival
The first weekend in October, the Mississippi River town of Helena-...
King Biscuit Time
In November 1941, KFFA, 1360 AM, the first local radio station in Helena (Phillips County), went on the air. S...
Albert King (1923–1992)
aka: Albert Nelson
Albert King, one of the most influential blues guitarists of all ti...
B. B. King (1925–2015)
Legendary blues guitarist B. B. King had a monumental career heavily influenced by his experiences in Arkansas...
Calvin James "Slim" Leavy (1940–2010)
Calvin James “Slim” Leavy, vocalist and guitarist, recorded “Cummins Prison Farm,” a blues song that d...
Robert Lockwood Jr. (1915–2006)
Robert Lockwood Jr. was a blues guitarist celebrated for his progressive, jazz-like style, his longevity, and...
Rose Marie McCoy (1922–2015)
Rose Marie Hinton McCoy broke into the white, male-dominated music business in the early 1950s to become a hig...
Robert Nighthawk (1909–1967)
aka: Robert Lee McCollum
Robert Nighthawk was among the most remarkable slide guitarists in ...
"Sunshine" Sonny Payne (1925–2018)
aka: John William Payne
“Sunshine” Sonny Payne was the longtime host of King Biscuit Ti...
Bobby Rush (1933–)
aka: Emmett Ellis Jr.
Bobby Rush, known as the “King of the Chitlin’ Circuit,” is a...
Frank "Son" Seals (1942–2004)
Frank “Son” Seals was a singer who became a driving force behind a brief but stormy rejuvenation of the b...
Houston Stackhouse (1910–1980)
aka: Houston Goff
Houston Stackhouse never achieved much in the way of success, yet h...
Roosevelt "The Honeydripper" Sykes (1906–1983)
Roosevelt Sykes was a leading blues pianist in the 1930s and is considered by many in the music world to be th...
Johnnie Harrison Taylor (1934–2000)
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was a popular gospel and rhythm and blues singer, known as the “Philosopher of Soul,...
Casey Bill Weldon (1901?–1972?)
Casey Bill Weldon was one of the most talented, yet enigmatic, blues slide guitarists of the early twentieth c...
J. Mayo "Ink" Williams (1894–1980)
J. Mayo “Ink” Williams was the first African American producer at a major record label and the most succe...
"Sonny Boy" Williamson II (1912?–1965)
aka: Aleck Miller
Sonny Boy Williamson first became famous as a blues harmonica playe...
Jimmy "Spoon" Witherspoon (1921?–1997)
James John (Jimmy) Witherspoon, also known by the nickname “Spoon,” was a versatile singer who achieved co...