North Mississippi Hill Country bluesman Junior Kimbrough and Memphis music historian David Evans have been announced among this year’s inductees to the Blues Hall of Fame.
Founded by the Downtown Memphis-based Blues Foundation in 1980, the Blues Hall of Fame enshrines a new class annually and has more than 400 inductees in multiple categories including Performers, Individuals, Classic of Blues Literature, Classic of Blues Recording (Song) and Classic of Blues Recording (Album).
Influential North Mississippi musician and juke joint owner Kimbrough, who died in 1998, leads the local inductees. The Blues Hall of Fame noted that Kimbrough “became a nationally renowned blues icon known for his unique style and his role as potentate at his own Juke, Junior’s Place… His music appeared in the documentary ‘Deep Blues,’ and he released albums for Philwood, Highwater, and Fat Possum. The Black Keys, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Daft Punk, and the North Mississippi Allstars have covered his songs.”
Joining Kimbrough is longtime University of Memphis professor, author, historian, filmmaker and blues scholar David Evans, who was elected in the significant individual category.
Evans was honored for “his scholarly research and his fieldwork in Mississippi, Louisiana, and other states (that) formed the basis for a plethora of publications, recordings, liner notes, and lectures.” The recipient of numerous awards and honors, his film and video work includes a Mississippi fife and drum documentary, as well as an instructional video on the guitar style of blues singer/guitarist Tommy Johnson. Evans also hosted two long-running shows on Memphis radio station WEVL and has served as a series editor at the University Press of Mississippi since 1996.
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The 2023 Blues Hall of Fame class also includes Chicago blues harp master Carey Bell, acclaimed R&B singer Esther Phillips, blues guitarist John Primer, pianist Snooky Pryor, folk blues giant Josh White and Alligator records alumnus Fenton Robinson. All but Primer are now deceased.
The Hall of Fame Ceremony — which will be held May 10 in Memphis as part of the annual Blues Music Awards festivities — will also honor recordings by Chicago blues icon Little Walter, Lowell Fulson, Freddy King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House and Howlin’ Wolf. The history book “The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville 1899-1926” by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff will also be honored in the classic blues literature category.
The induction ceremony will be held at the Halloran Centre, 225 S. Main St. A cocktail reception honoring the Hall of Fame Inductees will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the ceremony following at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 each (and also available with Blues Music Awards tickets).
For more information, go to Blues.org.
