Introducing the book
Sweet Bitter Blues – Washington DC’s Homemade Blues
by Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis
This is a non-fiction book about the life and times of harmonica player Phil Wiggins and the African American blues scene of Washington, D.C. The manuscript has been accepted for publication in March 2020 by the University Press of Mississippi – American Made Music Series.
Sweet Bitter Blues has two primary components: Phil’s story is told in first person narrative, in his own voice, as he told it to Frank Matheis in numerous interviews over four years; and, essentially all other sections were by Frank Matheis, including biographies and supporting essays, with additional essays with Eleanor Ellis about Flora Molton and two by Dr. Barry Lee Pearson who conducted extensive interviews with Archie Edwards and John Cephas, which he graciously contributed to this book.
At its core, the D.C. area acoustic “down home” blues scene was and is rooted in the African American community, with a small group of musicians, proud and beloved men and women, who saw it as their mission to carry on their respective musical traditions: Mother Scott, Flora Molton, Chief Ellis, Archie Edwards, John Jackson, John Cephas & Phil Wiggins.
Because of their love for the music and willingness to teach, these fine musicians created a harmonious environment, mostly centered on Archie’s famous barbershop where Archie Edwards opened his doors every Saturday afternoon for jam sessions. In the barbershop, and in the whole D.C. area scene, issues that were pervasive in other places never came up. Nobody was judged by their skill level, their skin color, their age, or gender…everybody was welcomed, everybody was met with open arms and a spirit of friendship pervaded.
The musicians in Washington, D.C., who are no longer with us have left an important legacy: “Carry on this music. Keep it going.” This book aims to do just that. It documents the music community in and around D.C. as Phil lived and experienced it. It is about the generation that continued this musical legacy and the facilitating forces that helped shape the local scene. Who better to tell that story than a musician who lived the history, was part of it, and continues the legacy of this musical tradition to this day, as performer and educator?
Sweet Bitter Blues happily tells the story that the Washington, D.C., acoustic blues scene was and is a “living tradition” and we tip our hats to those who made it happen then, and those who carry on today.
Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, professor at the University of Maryland, was the advisor to the authors. The book was edited by the great ethnomusicologist, author and musician Dr. David Evans. The foreword to the book is written by Grammy Award winning author, musician and cultural historian Elijah Wald.
Phil Wiggins is the recipient of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship (2017), the highest honor the United States bestows on the Traditional Arts. He is a two-time winner of the prestigious W.C. Handy Blues Award in 1984 for Best Traditional Album of the Year and in 1987 as Entertainers of the Year. He has played the White House for Bill and Hillary Clinton, performing with B.B. King. Cephas & Wiggins played Carnegie Hall, Royal Prince Albert Hall in London and the Sydney Opera House, as well as small venues worldwide, touring every continent except Antarctica. Phil has recorded more than a dozen critically acclaimed albums, including on Flying Fish and Alligator Records. Phil Wiggins as well as Cephas & Wiggins have been featured in major music magazines, including on the cover of Living Blues, and the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and many more.
Frank Matheis, a University of Maryland graduate, is a music journalist and a regular contributor to Living Blues magazine, and formerly to Blues Access. As a former radio DJ with WKZE and WVKR, he produced award winning radio documentaries.
Here is what the experts are saying:
“This 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. A documentary about his longtime blues duo, entitled Satan & Adam, is currently screening on Netflix.
“Sweet Bitter Blues by Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis is a great and thoughtful read. Reading this book just 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 blues
“A fascinating first-person account of the Piedmont Blues scene over the past 40+ 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 Magazine
“Phil 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 treasure.”
—Guy Davis, Grammy-nominated blues musician
“It’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 musician
“Rarely is the Piedmont region discussed with any seriousness concerning the blues. This is corrected once and for all with 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 co-author of Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson.
Corrections:
The correct caption is: Front row: Eleanor Ellis, John Jackson, Roy Dunn, Flora Molton; Back row: John Cephas, Roger Gregory, James Jackson, Larry Wise, Phil Wiggins. Oxon Hill Blues Festival 1982 or 83. Photo by Myron Samuels
On page 8 a regrettable cut-and-paste error crept in. Unfortunately, we missed it in the proofing, including all reviewers and editors. It now says: Johnny Shines, who traveled and recorded with Robert Johnson… This is of course wrong and we clearly know that Johnny never recorded “with” RJ. It should have said “who traveled with and recorded Robert Johnson songs.”
Special Feature: Essays by Dr. Barry Lee Pearson
On this website only, we are privileged to publish previously unpublished essays by Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, a longtime documentarian of the local blues scene in the Maryland/Virginia and Washington, D.C. region. Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, Professor in the English Department at the University of Maryland, stands as the most steadfast supporter of the local acoustic blues scene in the greater Washington, D.C., area and beyond. As a musician, author, college lecturer, folklorist, and personal friend to the musicians, he has been the voice of this regional blues scene. In the Supporting Essays section you will find numerous important documents by Dr. Pearson, who conducted interviews with the regional musicians over decades. This includes, or will soon include: Archie Edwards, John Cephas, Nat Reese, Nap Turner, Phil Wiggins and Otis Williams.
‘The CD “Carrying on the Legacy – Music by Contemporary Piedmont Blues Musicians…”
….a collection of acoustic blues is now available on the Patuxent Music website http://pxrec.com/ Click on the Blues tab on the menu.The CD features musicians who are carrying on the legacy of the regional Washington, D.C. Piedmont and related blues. The CD is an accompanying song collection to the book “Sweet Bitter Blues – Washington’s Homemade Blues”by harmonica player and National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis. The book will be published in 2020 by the University Press of Mississippi. You may not know all the musicians who are included in this CD collection, but chances are you will be pleasantly surprised by the skill, passion and musical prowess of these artists. The CD showcases the outstanding musicians who are Phil’s living friends and contemporaries are featured on the CD collection, including a rarity – acoustic blues women. The acoustic blues scene in D.C. has always been somewhat under the radar. Yet, it has been one of the largest, most vibrant and continuous regional scenes in the US for decades. At its core, the D.C. area acoustic “down home” blues scene was and is rooted in the African American community, with a small group of musicians, proud and beloved men and women, who saw it as their mission to carry on their respective musical traditions: Mother Scott, Flora Molton, Chief Ellis, Archie Edwards, John Jackson, John Cephas & Phil Wiggins. Because of their love for the music and willingness to teach, these fine musicians created a harmonious environment, mostly centered on Archie’s famous barbershop where Archie Edwards opened his doors every Saturday afternoon for jam sessions.
One more thing: We hate to have to bring this up, but seriously…please don’t steal. Copyright Notice. © 2018. All intellectual property, images, photos, articles and other content found on this website are protected by international copyright, with copyright retained by the authors, photographers and artists. Downloading images or written content is strictly prohibited. We will protect our rights to the full extent of the law. Do not copy, disseminate or download without permission. Do the right thing and contact us for permission! Photos can be licensed for a reasonable fee.
The Components
Book
Sweet Bitter Blues has two primary components: Phil’s story is told in first person narrative, in his own voice, as he told it to Frank in numerous interviews over four years; and, essentially all other sections were by Frank, including biographies and supporting essays
Photographs
More than a hundred previously unpublished photographs documenting the history of the D.C. blues scene. It is planned to organize an accompanying historical photo exhibit at the time of publication.
Music
A CD Carrying On The Legacy featuring the music by contemporary Piedmont Blues musicians will be issued on the Patuxent Record label (Patuxent CD-321)
Eleanor Ellis – Phil Wiggins – Neil Harpe – Phil Wiggins & Dom Turner – Rick Franklin & Tom Mindte – Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo – Mike Baytop & Jay Summerour – Tillamook Burn – MSG Acoustic Blues Trio – Warner Williams & Jay Summerour – Franklin & Baytop –Phil Wiggins And The Chesapeake Sheiks – Lauren Sheehan with Phil Wiggins – Eleanor Ellis & Neil Harpe
The Details
Primary Subject
A historical documentation about the African American acoustic blues in the Washington, D.C. area as told by a musician who lived and experienced it and who continues the legacy of this musical tradition to this day, as performer and educator.
The Voice
World-renowned blues harmonica virtuoso Phil Wiggins is the primary informational source, expert storyteller and guiding force of this project. He is a musician and teacher, an integral member of the Washington, D.C. area acoustic blues scene and in the center of the east coast acoustic blues for 40 years. He tells the story in first person narrative, with call-outs for bios and other sideboard information.
Core Subjects
- African American culture & history
- Traditional African American acoustic blues
- American Roots music
- Piedmont Blues
- Washington D.C./Maryland/Virginia regional history
- Appalachian history
- Blues musician biographies
- Women in the blues
- Contemporary traditional-style acoustic blues
Audience
- The broad international blues audience
- Folklorists and traditional music fans
- Regional historians
- Local community – historical societies, libraries, educational & cultural institutions, etc.
Key Associated Support Elements
- A treasure trove of unpublished or rarely published historical photographs.
- A CD Carrying On The Legacy featuring the music by contemporary Piedmont Blues musicians will be issued on the Patuxent Record label (Patuxent CD-321).
