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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Podcast: Guitar Shorty

Still playing hot guitar, Shorty comes to Roanoke for the Taste of the Blue Ridge Blues & Jazz Festival

Guitar Shorty

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Taste of the Blue Ridge performers

Guitar Shorty will turn 67 the day before he walks onstage at the Taste of the Blue Ridge Blues & Jazz Festival. He's packed some serious living and playing into most every one of those years.

After beginning his playing career in Florida clubs, he took to the road, touring with T-Bone Walker, Little Milton and Lowell Fulson (with whom Shorty apprenticed under Fulson bandleader Ray Charles). In the late 1960s, he became something of a mentor to a young Jimi Hendrix — Shorty (nee David Kearney) had married Hendrix's stepsister.

Years passed before he finally broke out as a solo touring and recording artist, time that included a serious injury in a car accident and the theft of all his gear — and on the brighter side, an appearance on TV's "The Gong Show." All the while, Shorty was developing a very personal musical style and an individual take on life.

Host and producer: Tad Dickens
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