Ben Payton added to blues workshop faculty

With regret we inform you that Resa Gibbs will not be able to teach at the workshop this summer. In her stead, Ben Wiley Payton from Jackson, Mississippi, makes his first visit to Port Townsend to lead the singing track.

Born and raised in Coila, a small town in Carroll County, Mississippi, Payton spent much of his childhood in the agricultural work cycle. His access to popular music radically changed when he moved to Chicago with his family in 1964. The 16-year-old Mississippi boy arrived in the city when its club scene was booming. From club shows by Muddy Waters and other bluesmen to concerts by touring acts like James Brown and Wilson Pickett, Payton and his friends were there to see them all. In Chicago, Payton joined a singing group, then learned guitar and started performing with friends.

By the time he was 20, Payton was playing guitar in the house bands of several show clubs on Chicago’s South Side, backing up well-known performers, such as R&B singer Otis Clay and jazz guitarist Grant Green.

more on Ben Payton here:  www.benpayton.com

Comments

[TerrapinTim]

Ben Payton sounds like a pretty cool dude - and jazzist Grant Green? Damn,now!!) But I'm here to say, to testify- can you hear me now, people? I myself will MISS Ms Risa Gibbs, and that's a fact, Jack, that's the skinny, Minnie. Risa must have a real good reason for bowing out of Two-oh-Ten, but I shall still miss her (and anticipate her return to Fort Worden, circa Two-oh-Eleven. Sure hope so...). Oh, Risa, you are the sunshine its-own-self, girl... you are some kind of wonderful! Y'all hurry back, you hear? I do hope that all is well with you back East ...

Love ya, - Terrapin Tim

[Jug]

Just got his album, Diggin' Up Old Country Blues, yesterday, what a treat. Laid back, great lyrics, written by a person who lives in the Delta. When you hear The Jolly Plowboy, it is like plowing the field yourself. Barn Song just makes you smile. Look forward to seeing him live.
Great addition.

Jug

[Valerie Sloane]

Oh, Resa-

I've been planning the long ferry ride and drive from SE Alaska to sing with you at Blues...

Break my heart!

Your biggest fan in Carhartts,
Valerie