Percy Strother

For a sense of the blues at its most tangible, one needs to look no further than singer/guitarist Percy Strother, who triumphed over incredible tragedy to create music of genuine pain and sorrow. Born July 23, 1946 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was still a child when his father died violently; his mother passed away shortly afterward, and rather than submitting to life in an orphanage, Strother simply took to the road. He drifted from job to job for a number of years, all the while fighting a battle with alcoholism; discovering the blues turned his life around, however, and after sobering up he began teaching himself guitar, honing his chops in virtual anonymity before recording his debut LP A Good Woman Is Hard to Find in 1992. The Highway Is My Home followed in 1995, and in 1997 Strother returned with It's My Time. He toured Europe several times and recorded Home at Last there, which saw release in 2001. A legend in his adopted home of Minneapolis, Percy Strother was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away May 29, 2005.