WILLIE FARMER

“Little” Willie Farmer was born in 1956 in tiny Duck Hill, Miss., where he grew up on a farm where his father raised cows, chickens, cotton and corn. His uncles and father would entertain each other with blues and gospel songs when their work was done. Farmer picked up a guitar as a child and began to teach himself how to play. His mother and father had differing attitudes about what he should be playing. His mother preferred that he stick to gospel, and whenever she was out of earshot, his father encouraged him to play the blues. As Willie got better and better, his father offered a piece of advice: “Don’t brag on yourself. If you’re playing it right, others will brag on you.” The lesson in humility was as much an advisory to his son to make sure news of his playing was slower to get back to read more...