"... That young man is
an entertainer... He's keeping the blues moving forward
while respecting the past." - B.B. King
One might say that the Mississippi River runs through his
veins. Certainly the spirit of traditional blues is the
lifeblood of 21 year-old Slick Ballinger. Influenced by
the likes of Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters, the North Carolina
native and current Mississippi resident picked up the guitar
at the age of fifteen and with it took the torch from a
bygone generation and began to run with it.
Before he turned eighteen,
Ballinger was honored to share the stage with the likes
of Othar Turner and Pinetop Perkins, and more recently
with the legendary BB King. During the summer of 2002,
a 94 year-old Turner took the young Ballinger under his
wing and taught him how to live and breathe the blues,
in a house with no electricity or running water. Turner
was the last surviving master of the Mississippi back-country
fife-and-drum tradition, a primitive take on African-American
songs which dates back to the Northern Mississippi hill
country culture of the 1800s. Living under such conditions
is likely to drive a modern man crazy, but not when you
are a young bluesman with an old soul like Ballinger.
He and Turner rose early each day and led a simple routine
of chores, followed by traveling the gravel roads of
Mississippi to perform at juke joints and house parties.
Ballinger won the Albert King Award in 2004 for "Most
Promising Guitarist" at the 2004 International
Blues Challenge. Now, after a few years of becoming friendly
with the road, Ballinger is set to release his debut on
Oh Boy Records, a Nashville-based label that is home to
singer/songwriter John Prine. The new record was
produced by Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George
Thorogood, Steve Miller Band, Journey, John Lee Hooker).
Ballinger refers to Gaines as a "genius," saying
that the renowned producer was able to capture the raw
energy of Ballinger's live sound.
Slick Ballinger is a young man with simple values, and
sets out to make his music reflect that. His gruff but
soulful voice and string-snapping guitar style are proof
that old-school Delta blues can not only be taught, but
can be truly learned and transferred to a new generation.
"All of the great
artists that ever been, went down in history because
of the simplicity of it," Ballinger says. "Like
Chuck Berry." He
pauses, then, like a wise old man, adds a simple sentiment that is the mantra
of the young bluesman's life.
"Ain't no use in
making things complicated," he
says.
