David Evans (born January 22, 1944) Dr. David Evans
''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

''. Retrieved 24 September 2016 is an American

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

and director of the Ethnomusicology/Regional Studies program at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

, where he has worked since 1978.

Life and career

He was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States. He studied at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and began making trips to the

southern states Southern States may refer to: *The independent states of the Southern hemisphere United States * Southern United States, or the American South * Southern States Cooperative, an American farmer-owned agricultural supply cooperative * Southern Stat ...

in the 1960s to research and record blues musicians. He recorded the singer Jack Owens in 1970 and later produced records for

Jessie Mae Hemphill Jessie Mae Hemphill (October 18, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was an American electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the North Mississippi hill country blues traditions of her family and regional heritage. Life and career Hemp ...

and other blues musicians. His research work in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

was mentioned extensively in Robert Palmer's tome, ''Deep Blues''. As head of the University of Memphis's

High Water Recording Company High Water Recording Company is a blues record label founded in 1979 by David Evans and Memphis State University. The label first issued only singles. Since 1983 it released LPs of recordings by blues and gospel musicians from the Memphis area pr ...

, he made numerous recordings of performers in the Memphis area, some of whom were not previously documented. He has written or edited a number of books on the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and has written

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

and booklets for various music releases. He won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

for "Best Album Notes" for the CD '' Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton''. Evans has also been performing in the United States and elsewhere, both solo and with the Last Chance Jug Band. His discography includes ''Match Box Blues'' (Inside Sounds, 2002); ''I Didn't Know About You'' (Heavywood, 2005); ''Needy Times'' (Inside Sounds, 2007) and ''Shake That Thing!'' (Inside Sounds, 2006).

Published work

* ''Tommy Johnson'' (London: Studio Vista, 1971) * ''Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982) * ''The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to the Blues'' (New York: Perigee, 2005)

References

External links

Myspace profileAllMusic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, David 1944 births Living people American musicologists American anthropologists American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Grammy Award winners University of Memphis faculty 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians

Life and career

Published work

Further reading

References

External links