Asie Payton

Though he was also a bluesman, most of Asie Payton's 60 years were spent as a farmer, driving a tractor on his land in Holly Ridge, MS. Living in a shotgun shack and working his fields took most of Payton's time, but he also wrote and performed blues originals, playing at places like the local grocery store, Junior Kimbrough's club, and Jimmy's Auto Care. Two of his club performances were recorded by Fat Possum records, with the intention of using them as demo tapes for a studio album. Payton's ties to his land were strong, however, and the label was unable to get him into the studio before he succumbed to a heart attack in 1997. Two years later, Fat Possum released the tapes as Payton's first and only album, Worried.