Pop Ferguson Blues Heritage Festival in Lenoir, N.C.

Nitro and Slim Beverly Guitar Watkins Bill Perry Wanda Johnson

Pop Ferguson Blues Heritage Festival is a living documentary that makes every attempt to promote, preserve and advance the culture of Blues music as an art form in America. The festival gives its audiences an experiential day with the sights, sounds, and smells of authentic Blues music. If you have attended the festival in the past, then you know and understand what Pop Ferguson Blues means when we say experiential. Pop Ferguson Blues believes that you "educate first, then entertain;" so, we present all educational and fun Blues shows.   What is a Pop Ferguson Blues Heritage Festival like?   When you come to a Pop Ferguson Blues Festival, you will feel like you have gone back in time expecting that you will hear and see Ma Rainey or Son House with Mississippi John Hurt at any time. Maybe the Delta Gang is in the next venue. You will find guys like Bukka White, Skip James, Lonnie Young, or the guitar master Lonnie Johnson. Do not forget Big Mama Thornton, Victoria Spivey, and Big Mae Belle with Pink Anderson singing “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Just maybe the gals and guys from the Carolinas will show up. Carolina Slim, Blind Boy Fuller, or Rev. Gary Davis. It sounds like a make believe event, but that's what we wish for you.   This is our 7th year. Our theme is - "Keep The Jook Joint Jumpin," – and we have included some of the last Blues artists to actually play in an Authentic Jook, whose ages range from 72 to 87 years old. These guys and gals lived and sang while "Jim Crow" was alive and well. Jim Crow may be a little quieter, but the JOOK JOINT Blues they play is alive and well - and just as low down as they were back in the day.   The Lineup includes: Sarasota Slim and Nitro Bosman, Barbara Carr, Mac Arnold and a plate full of Blues, Wanda Johnson, Don Vappie, Trudy Lynn, Big Bill Morganfield, Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, Terry “Big T” Williams, Gaye Adegabalola and The Wild Rutz’s, Bill Perry, Kat Williams, Pop Ferguson, along with 6 other Blues bands to round out our roster of 18 blues performers.   Pop Ferguson Blues will also award one young performer (or group) with a $5,000 scholarship, in its second year "Cuttin' Heads" challenge. The rules are simple. Contestants must be amateurs 18 years old or younger and will perform two traditional blues or gospel songs of their choice. Performances will be adjudicated by their peers and a select panel of judges. The winner will perform on stage at the festival. For more information go to cjblues.com.

Dust My Broom - Bill Perry Blues Band

William Sanford Perry, (December 25, 1957 - July 17, 2007) born in Goshen, New York, was an American blues musician. The guitarist, songwriter and singer toured throughout the U.S. and Europe. In the 1980s, he was the main guitarist for Richie Havens. He also toured with Garth Hudson and Levon Helm around the same time.

In 1995, he was signed for an unprecedented five-album deal with the Pointblank/Virgin label. The Bill Perry Blues Band consisted of Bill Perry (lead vocals, lead guitar), John Reddan (guitar and vocals), Tim Tindall (bass guitar), and Rob Curtis (drums). The band released a total of seven albums between 1995 and 2006.

He died in Sugar Loaf, New York on July 17, 2007, at the age of 49. He is survived by a son Aaron and a large family.
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This Time I'm Leaving - Bill Perry

This is an absolutely incredible blues player! If you don't have any of his recordings, I'm not doing my job!



William Sanford Perry, (December 25, 1957 - July 17, 2007) born in Goshen, New York, was an American blues musician. The guitarist, songwriter and singer toured throughout the U.S. and Europe. In the 1980s, he was the main guitarist for Richie Havens. He also toured with Garth Hudson and Levon Helm around the same time.



In 1995, he was signed for an unprecedented five-album deal with the Pointblank/Virgin label. The Bill Perry Blues Band consisted of Bill Perry (lead vocals, lead guitar), John Reddan (guitar and vocals), Tim Tindall (bass guitar), and Rob Curtis (drums). The band released a total of seven albums between 1995 and 2006.



He died in Sugar Loaf, New York on July 17, 2007, at the age of 49. He is survived by a son Aaron and a large family.



Sorry for the cut up clip but not a lot of great footage exists sadly.
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Crossroads (Not the typical stereotype) - Bill Perry

This is one guy I missed out on. He was only around a few months after I found out about him...pity!

William Sanford Perry, (December 25, 1957 - July 17, 2007) born in Goshen, New York, was an American blues musician. The guitarist, songwriter and singer toured throughout the U.S. and Europe. In the 1980s, he was the main guitarist for Richie Havens. He also toured with Garth Hudson and Levon Helm around the same time.

In 1995, he was signed for an unprecedented five-album deal with the Pointblank/Virgin label. The Bill Perry Blues Band consisted of Bill Perry (lead vocals, lead guitar), John Reddan (guitar and vocals), Tim Tindall (bass guitar), and Rob Curtis (drums). The band released a total of seven albums between 1995 and 2006.

He died in Sugar Loaf, New York on July 17, 2007, at the age of 49. He is survived by a son Aaron and a large family.
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Bill Perry

This is Bill Perry's Bio from the Blind Pig Record Site. After reading of his influences it isn't hard to see why I was immediately drawn to his music. I wish I had discovered him earlier in his life.

Bill Perry's newest release, Don't Know Nothin' About Love, finds him reunited with producer extraordinaire Popa Chubby. Bill tears it up on a program consisting of eight new originals and three covers, including a rock-the-house version of "Hello Josephine." Once again, producer and artist have collaborated to craft a splendid showcase for Bill's incendiary guitar playing and songwriting prowess. Bill notes that "working with Chubby has really let me come into my own as a recording artist; the guy's a genius in the studio whose enthusiasm gets everybody going."

Born and raised in the Hudson River town of Chester, New York, Bill was presented his first guitar at the age of five. "Right away," he says, "I could play the theme from 'Batman.'" Like Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, Perry's parental heritage is half Afro-American and half American Indian, and he grew up in a household surrounded by gospel and blues music. "My father used to listen to Jimmy Smith and B.B. King, and my grandmother played organ in church, so I was always around this kind of music."
Eventually Bill gravitated to the rock sounds of the 60's. His favorite guitarists were Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, and Johnny Winter. It was his discovery of their sources of inspiration that led him back to the blues -- Albert Collins, B.B. King, and his personal favorite, Freddie King.

Although Perry's guitar style is influenced by his early favorites, he has always sought to develop his own technique, which combines effortless fluidity and incredible attack. "Albert Collins was one of the best of the contemporary blues players who had this really distinctive style. You'd know within three notes, 'Oh, that's Albert Collins.' I think it's the right thing to do, to do something different with the blues, to keep the music evolving."

As for Bill's voice, a distinctive, deep rasp full of grit and gravel, it is particularly suited to the blues, convincingly conveying the drama and emotion that are so essential to the music. He puts considerable effort into his phrasing of lyrics and also has the rather unique ability to sing while playing guitar solos.

As a teenager, Bill was sneaking into the legendary Greenwich Village blues club Dan Lynch and began jamming with all the local blues musicians. Soon after, he put together his first blues band and started gigging in New York and New Jersey nightspots.

One night, after playing a set of Hendrix songs, Bill was approached by Richie Havens. "Later, he called me up out of the blue and asked if I wanted to do a gig with him that weekend. I asked, 'Where's the gig?' and he says, 'Japan.' I'd never flown before on a jet, but next thing you know I'm on a plane to Japan. That was it. I played with Richie for four years."

While Bill was on the road with Havens, he spent a lot of his time honing his songwriting skills. "The whole time I was out with Richie, I was coming up with different ideas for blues songs. I went back even further, and started getting into Curtis Mayfield's songwriting, and got into a heavy soul thing for a couple of years. Then I started getting back into doing just straight-ahead blues."

Bill's first two albums, Love Scars and Greycourt Lightning, were released by Point Blank/Virgin in 1995 and 1998 respectively. The critics sat up and took notice. Bill was featured in Guitar Player which said, "Bill Perry has it all - hip songs, a gritty, emotion-charged voice, devastating tones, and a powerful phrasing delivered with a stranglehold vibrato and knockout attack."

On stage, Perry earned a reputation as a mesmerizing performer who plays with passion and excitement. In 1999 he released a live recording entitled High Octane on Car Wash Records that became one of the most critically acclaimed live albums of the year.

Perry's rousing, crowd-pleasing performance at the Bishopstock Blues Festival in England in 1999 sparked the interest of Blind Pig Records and eventually led to a recording contract. The first album for Blind Pig, Fire It Up, was co-produced by Jimmy Vivino of "The Conan O'Brien Show" and released in 2001.

Guitar One magazine said the CD was simply "searing, scalding electric blues," while Jazz Times called it "a compelling showcase of guitar heroics and good old-fashioned soul."His next CD for Blind Pig, Crazy Kind Of Life, was released in October 2002. Perry and co-producer Vivino wrote all the songs, with the exception of the Rolling Stones chestnut "No Expectations," on which special guest Richie Havens interprets one of the best blues tunes ever to come out of the rock idiom. Billboard called it, "An exceptional outing for guitarist/vocalist Bill Perry. He has definitely hit his stride as a solo artist."

Bill Perry's next Blind Pig CD, Raw Deal, was his first collaboration with New York legend and postmodern blues master Popa Chubby. His approach was basically to let Bill be Bill. "This cat can play the guitar, man, and I don't mean just spewing out licks. No way, man, he speaks. He speaks because that's his voice. I told Bill, 'Man, write songs about your life, about who you are, and what you do, and let's put up some mikes and let the magic happen."

Well, once again the magic is happening on Don't Know Nothin' About Love, with Perry's guitar ferocity, gutsy vocals, and go-for-broke, psychedelic intensity burning brighter than ever. As Guitar One said, Bill is a "six-string superman more powerful than a locomotive."

Postscript: Bill Perry passed away on July 17, 2007 at the age of 49.
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Big Ass Green Van - Bill Perry

One of the blues guys who I missed seeing while he was alive was Bill Perry. It was like Perry was under the radar. When I discovered him I was blown away. He put out a number of really strong recordings. Sadly he passed away a few years ago.



Another tale of travel on the road


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