Alvin Youngblood Hart

Alvin Youngblood Hart (born Gregory Edward Hart, March 2, 1963 in Oakland, California, and spent some time in Carroll County, Mississippi, in his youth, where he was influenced by the Mississippi Country Blues performed by his relatives. Hart is known as one of the world's foremost practitioners of country blues. He is also known as a faithful torchbearer for the 1960s and 1970s guitar rock of his youth, as well as Western Swing and vintage country. His music has been compared to a list of diverse artists ranging from Lead Belly, Spade Cooley to acoustic and electric guitar as well as banjo and sometimes the mandolin. Bluesman Taj Mahal once said about Hart: "The boy has got thunder in his hands." Hart himself said, "I guess my big break came when I opened for Taj Mahal for four nights at Yoshi's. In 2003, Hart's album Down in the Alley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. In 2005, Hart received a Grammy Award for his contribution to Beautiful Dreamer – The Songs of Stephen Foster. Hart was featured in the 2003 Wim Wenders film The Soul of a Man, which was featured in Martin Scorsese's film series The Blues. Hart was also featured in the documentary Last of the Mississippi Jukes. In 2010 Hart teamed up with friends Jimbo Mathus and Luther Dickinson to form The South Memphis String Band. Their first album, Home Sweet Home, was nominated for “Best Acoustic Album” at the 2011 Blues Foundation Music Awards. The group released a second album, Old Times There, in the spring of 2012.

1996

Okeh 67593/14 tr./48:45 min.

1998

Hannibal 1431/11 tr./46:41 in.

2000

Hannibal 1449/13 tr./46:37 min.

2002

Memphis Int.DOT203/12 tr./43 min.

2005

Tone Cool 17310/13 tr./57:28 min.