University Press of Mississippi Sweet Bitter Blues: Washington DC's Homemade Blues (American Made Music Series)

Review Blues scholarship has been slowly evolving in the past two decades, and Sweet Bitter Blues, cowritten by Washington, DC blues harmonica player Phil Wiggins and White blues connoisseur Frank Matheis, is a welcome addition to the literature.--Ulrich Adelt, University of Wyoming "The Journal of African American History"Wiggins's account is rich with references to such vanished institutions as the Pigfoot Club on Hamlin Street NE, the Ontario Place Coffee House, the Unicorn Times arts newspaper, and Chinatown's Ruby Restaurant, where the musicians ate pre- and post-performance. This journey in space and time is especially pleasurable because Wiggins's writing can be as incisive and evocative as his harmonica lines.--Douglas Peter Sefton "Washington History"Sweet Bitter Blues by Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis is a great and thoughtful read. Reading this book gives me an even better appreciation for Phil's music. He's a true bluesman, and I recommend this book to EVERYBODY!--Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy Award-winning musician and elder statesman of the bluesIt's nice to wander down the path our elders blazed before us. Sweet Bitter Blues is a quintessential read for any blues lover.--Jontavious Willis, Grammy-nominated blues musicianPhil Wiggins and Frank Matheis are great storytellers. I have known some of the Washington, DC acoustic blues illuminati that Sweet Bitter Blues talks about and others not at all. Phil's words are so personal and brutally, lovingly honest. Phil Wiggins has survived to tell the tale. This book is a treasure.--Guy Davis, Grammy-nominated blues musicianRarely is the Piedmont region discussed with any seriousness concerning the blues. This is corrected once and for all by Sweet Bitter Blues: Washington, DC's Homemade Blues. This book is culturally priceless, and its history should be enshrined in every mention of the blues.--Bruce Conforth, professor of American culture, founding curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and coauthor of Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert JohnsonThe highest compliment I can make of this book, besides how much I enjoyed reading it, is that I learned so much about the DC acoustic blues scene. It is also handsomely illustrated. Sweet Bitter Blues is an invaluable addition to the literature about the blues.--Ron Weinstock "Blues & Rhythm"A fascinating first-person account of the Piedmont blues scene over the past forty-plus years from the eyes of one of the scene's most important players. Full of details and deeply personal stories from Phil Wiggins's decades of playing with not only his long-time partner John Cephas, but also nearly every other traditional blues artist in the region.--Brett Bonner, editor of Living Blues magazineA unique exploration of the history and development of a distinctive African American blues community from the perspective of an artist who was initiated into the music, thrived there, and went on to bring world-wide recognition to himself and scene.--Robert H. Cataliotti "Living Blues"GREAT BOOK!--Richard Harrington, renowned longtime writer for the Washington PostThis is an instant classic: one of those books that offers revelation after revelation, both on the autobiographical level (it's Phil's story) and on a broader cultural level (it's the first deep-and-wide history of Washington, DC's acoustic blues scene). Absolutely first rate. I can't imagine a serious blues fan who won't want a copy.--Adam Gussow, author of Mister Satan's Apprentice: A Blues Memoir and Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition, and subject of a documentary about his longtime blues duo, entitled Satan & Adam, currently screening on NetflixWiggins and Matheis are to be commended for this fine volume on an important musical community that continues to extend and honor the blues traditions of the Piedmont region. His unflinching candor mixed with a palpable sense of joy at where life has taken him makes Wiggins's recollections a jo