Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch Article on John Cephas

John "Bowling Green" Cephas, the legendary Piedmont blues guitarist and baritone vocalist who was recently honored as a 2009 Library of Virginia African American Trailblazer, died Wednesday morning at home in Woodford in Caroline County.

The much-honored and widely traveled 78-year-old Washington native, who recently retired because of illness, had been unable to attend the library awards ceremony last week. He was breathing with the aid of oxygen in recorded remarks to the audience that said how touched he was by the honor.

Born into a deeply religious family, he took his nickname from the Virginia town of Bowling Green, where he was reared hearing gospel music. He grew up listening to his grandfather's stories of slave ancestors on the Eastern Shore and his mother's singing. He learned about the blues from a guitar-picking aunt. "Blues music is truth," Mr. Cephas once said.

By Ellen Robertson

Read the whole article on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.

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NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, January 4, 2003

Cephas & Wiggins performance/chat in NPR's studio 4A, hosted by Scott Simon

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=899893