Sweet home Mississippi

A portrait of the blues and the people who play them

By: Madhu Kapparath

Published:
25/08/2015 12:00 AM

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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Rev John Wilkins is a preacher and plays his guitar at a church in Como, Mississippi, on Sundays. He also travels the country, performing with his band

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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Johnnie Billington, guitar musician, owned the Blues Academy in Lambert, Mississippi, where he helped the youth play the blues and stay out of trouble. He passed away in 2013

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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TL Williams is a guitar player who lives near Lexington, Mississippi. I photographed him at his home

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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Pat Thomas, a great blues guitar player and singer, in a box car train in his hometown of Leland, Mississippi. He is the son of bluesman James “Son” Thomas

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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Bill Abel plays in a small bar in Bentonia, Mississippi, and lives in Duncan, also in Mississippi. He is a blues guitar player and singer, and is known for making guitars out of driftwood from the Mississippi river and also from old cigar boxes

Image by : Lou Bopp

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Image by : Lou Bopp

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Robert “Bilbo” Walker, guitar musician and singer, at the old Sarah’s Kitchen in Clarksdale, Mississippi. I didn’t get to learn about his hometown, but he does travel a fair bit playing gigs. When I shot him, he had just returned from Amsterdam

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