Celebrating Black History Month

In acknowledgement of Black History Month, we are spotlighting one of the major architects of American music.

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the immense contributions African Americans have made to the fabric of American culture. One of the all-time greats of American blues and folk music is Mississippi John Hurt, an iconic guitarist and singer-songwriter whose work and influence spans generations. Hurt gave a voice to a working-class audience during the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and beyond.

Born in Teoc, Mississippi in 1893, Hurt took to music at a young age, teaching himself guitar at age 9 by watching local musicians. A humble family man, Hurt kept his music local, playing at festivals and parties in his hometown of Avalon, Mississippi, a town he would later immortalize with Avalon Blues in 1928. Hurt played a mix of traditional and original compositions, using his laid-back style to blend spirituality with everyday working-class struggles. 

Hurt recorded a dozen songs with Okeh Records in the late 1920’s, but saw his recording career derailed by the Great Depression. To support his family, Hurt’s focus shifted back to working farm, factory, and railroad jobs while continuing to play his songs at local gatherings. Years later in 1963, Hurt met Tom Hoskins, a music archivist who used the notes in a copy of Avalon Blues to find the songwriter and help bring his work to a new generation.

Thanks to the connections he made through Hoskins, Hurt would see a resurgence late in his life during the Civil Rights Movement and the folk music revival of the 1960’s. He quickly became a favorite of the folk music scene after releasing new recordings with Columbia Records and playing venues big and small, from coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall.

Hurt performed live on TV to a national audience on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and to a more intimate audience with Pete Seeger’s public access program Rainbow Quest, a celebration of the legacy of folk music. With Seeger’s guidance, Hurt became one of the headline performers at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI, an event that would become synonymous with the decade’s protest movements.

Though he passed away in 1966, Hurt’s impact on folk and blues remained prominent throughout the rest of the decade, influencing a younger generation of singer-songwriters. Today, his works have been collected by a number of record labels who have helped preserve his legacy. His recordings of Since I’ve Laid My Burden Down, Salty Dog, Richland Woman Blues, Avalon Blues, and more still speak to a modern audience, continuing to celebrate his life and his art more than a hundred years after he got started.