Richard Wayne Johnston is an American

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

musician. In 2001 he won the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...

and its Albert King Award for most promising blues guitarist. His work as a

street musician Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, th ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, was documented in the Alabama PBS film ''Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour''. The film, directed by Max Shores, featured Johnston singing and playing his

Lowebow A lowebow is a variation of the cigar box guitar, created by John Lowe in the 1990s. It involves a cigar box with two wooden rods projecting from it. Each wooden rod typically holds one string: a bass string attached to one rod and a standard acoust ...

cigar box guitar. It won first place in the professional documentary film category at the 2007 George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival. Johnston studied under blues artists including

R.L. Burnside R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) was an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played music for much of his life but received little recognition before the early 1990s. In the latter half of that decade, Burn ...

Junior Kimbrough David "Junior" Kimbrough (July 28, 1930 – January 17, 1998) was an American blues musician. His best-known works are "Keep Your Hands off Her" and "All Night Long". Early life Kimbrough was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi, and lived in the no ...

and

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 ...

. His first album, ''Foot Hill Stomp'' (2002), featured Hemphill on vocals and tambourine, with assistance from R.L. Burnside's grandson,

Cedric Burnside Cedric O. Burnside (born August 26, 1978)''Jefferson Blues Magazine, Jefferson'' interview. Issue 141, March 2004Swedish original via Google Translate is an American electric blues guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter. He is the son of blues ...

, and others. His second album, ''Official Bootleg #1'' (2004), was assisted by Hemphill, Cedric Burnside, and other artists. Richard also works under the name Boozer Ramirez in the Hawaiian islands.

References

External links

Indie Grits Film Festival Films: Richard Johnston: Hill country Troubadour

Richard Johnston at Max Shores' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Richard American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References

External links