In 1931 Skip James auditioned for record shop owner and talent scout H.C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. With a strong audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin to record for Paramount Records. This recording is what became the 1931 sessions, and it showed how talented he really was. Every song from that session could make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. James’ iconic sound was shaped by a few different factors, he sang in a haunting falsetto, played guitar in an open D minor tuning, and used an intricate finger picking style. These three things combined with his life experiences formed who he was and how he sounded as a musician.Unfortunately, The Great Depression prevented his 1931 recordings from selling like they should have, and he gave up the blues to become a Baptist and Methodist preacher. For the next 30 years James was pretty much unknown to the general public for his musicianship. That was until John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine heard his old record in the 1960s and went on a journey to rediscover the talented musician they heard. In June of 1964 the three of them found James in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. James would go on to become a hero of the folk and blues revival seen in the 1960s performing at numerous festivals. Sadly, Skip James passed away on October 3, 1969 after a long battle with cancer.Enjoy this clip of him performing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” live in 1967.-----#traditionalblues #blues #bluesrevival #folkrevival #skipjames

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