How To Play Catfish Blues

Corey Harris is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader who has carved out his own niche in blues. A powerful singer and accomplished guitarist, he has appeared at venues throughout the North America, Europe, Brazil, The Caribbean, East and West Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. In these lessons he will teach you the nuts and bolts of traditional blues and gospel guitar, featuring the works of diverse artists such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton, Blind Blake, Skip James, Muddy Waters, Fred McDowell, Reverend Gary Davis and many more!

Biography:

Born in Colorado to parents from East Texas and Kentucky, he began his career as a New Orleans street singer, travelling throughout the southern U.S. In his early twenties he lived in Cameroon, West Africa for a year, which had a profound effect on his later work. He has recorded many old songs of the blues tradition while also creating an original vision of the blues by adding influences from reggae, soul, rock and West African music.

His 1995 recording, Between Midnight and Day, is a tribute to the tradition of acoustic blues. Subsequent recordings, such as Greens From the Garden (1999), Mississippi to Mali (with the legendary Ali Farka Toure, 2003), and Daily Bread (2005) show Harris’ maturation from interpreter to songwriter. Some of his imaginative compositions are marked by a deliberate eclecticism; other works stay true to the traditional blues formula of compelling vocals and down-home guitar. With one foot in tradition and the other in contemporary experimentation, Harris is a truly unique voice in contemporary music.

He has performed, recorded, and toured with many of the top names in music such as BB King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, R.L.Burnside, Ali Farka Toure, Dave Matthews Band, Tracy Chapman, Olu Dara, Wilco, and others. His additional recordings include Fish Ain’t Bitin’ (1996), Vu-Du Menz (with Henry Butler, 2000), Downhome Sophisticate (2002), Zion Crossroads (2007), blu black (2010), Fulton blues (2013), Live at New Orleans Jazz Fest (2016), Free Waterway (2018), Louisa County Blues (2019).

In 2003 Harris was a featured artist and narrator of the Martin Scorcese film, “Feel Like Going Home,” which traced the evolution of blues from West Africa to the southern U.S. Featuring the great Ali Farka Toure from Mali, Corey interviewed and played with the master at his home in Niafunke.

In 2007, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship — commonly referred to as a “genius award” — from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The annual grant, which recognizes individuals from a wide range of disciplines who show creativity, originality and commitment to continued innovative work, described Harris as an artist who “forges an adventurous path marked by deliberate eclecticism.”

His latest release, The Insurrection Blues, was nominated for Best Acoustic Blues album of 2023 by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee. He currently teaches in the music department at the University of Virginia.