Early Blues in the American Midwest and South
A Collection of Songs, Historic Events, and Folklore
Performed by Jonathan Hawkins

Join us for a small snapshot of the seemingly endless landscape of early blues and jazz pioneers from our Midwestern and Southern regions. Jonathan Hawkins, touring singer-songwriter/instrumentalist, international Broadway touring guitarist/banjo player, and featured cruise line soloist, will be performing repertoire, history, and stories from fingerstyle guitar and blues greats such as:

Mance Lipscomb
Mississippi John Hurt
Rev. Gary Davis
Skip James
Furry Lewis
Scrapper Blackwell
and more!

Background information and histories of these fundamental artists will be featured, including their artistic development and influences, cultural landscapes, and the true stories behind famous folk legends that have haunted so many blues and jazz lyrics.

Jonathan Hawkins is a professional guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer. Hawkins’ other music research include collaborations on the following publications:

Greco-Roman Music in Context; Bringing Sound and Music to Virtual Pompeii, World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education (E-Learn), Honolulu, Hawaii, October, 2011

Spatialized Audio for Mixed Reality Theater: The Egyptian Oracle, International Conference of Auditory Display, Atlanta, GA, USA, June, 2012.