For almost fifty years, from the 1940s to 1986, “Fiddling Rufus” Brewer  played and sang at blues and country venues across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. He played at Gathright's Saturday Night Jamboree, the Louisiana Hayrides, and on radio shows across Arkansas. Image Credit: https://racquetball69.weebly.com M. A. “Fiddlin Rufus” Brewer was born on January 7, 1913, in Arkansas to Luther Brewer and Myrtle Davis. In the 1940s, Brewer began his professional music career a

Charles Brown, a blues singer and pianist recorded iconic hits like Merry Christmas Baby, Black Night, Hard Times, and Please Come Home For Christmas. Throughout the 1940s to 1960s, Brown’s signature soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced famous blues performances like Ray Charles and Sam Cooke.

In 1962, the teenage rockabilly band, The Playboys recorded a 45 record featuring their rockabilly crossover song , Baby Doll  with Vee-Eight Records in Nashville, Tennessee. Image Credit: www.psychofthesouth.com Jackie Hendrix founded The Playboys, a rockabilly-inspired garage band from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. After graduation, most of the members of The Playboys moved away, leaving Hendrix to find new members and reform the group.  Fortunately, a folk and pop singing group, m

Pine Bluff native, Fred “Deacon” Johnson was an African American entertainer and music contractor who established  the Deacon Johnson...

The cakewalk was a mid-19th century dance originally performed at get-togethers by the enslaved on Southern plantations. During this...

In the spring of 1976, former Pine Bluff Commercial writer Louis Guida recorded blues artists all across Arkansas to produce the 1983 blues album Keep It to Yourself, Arkansas Blues Volume 1: Solo Performances. 33 years later, he utilized the 1976 recordings, producing Meet Me in the Bottom: Arkansas Blues, Volume 2 - The Bands.

In the 1950s and 1960s, The Browns, a country music trio made up of siblings Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown, who grew up near Pine...

From 1944 to the mid 1960s, Pine Bluff native and jazz trumpeter Bitsy Mullins performed with numerous orchestras across the country,...

From 1957 to 1967, Pine Bluff native and jazz musician Les Spann appeared on over 78 top jazz sessions, recorded with jazz greats like...

In the early 1940s to 1950s, Gathright's Saturday Night Jamboree was billed as “One of the South’s Greatest Radio Shows.” Much like...

Vernon Garrett is a blues singer who has released 3 compilations, 12 albums, and over 30 singles so far. He was also featured on the...

Janette Davis, also known as Jan The Pride of Pine Bluff, was a pop singer known for being a regular on Arthur Godfrey’s numerous...

Larry Totsy Davis was an electric blues musician best known for releasing and co-writing the song Texas Flood, which later launched the...

Blues musician Big Bill Broonzy served as an ambassador sharing the blues with international audiences across Europe and influencing...

Hailing from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Joshua Altheimer was among the most talented pre-World War II blues pianists. He played alongside “Big...

His signature slide electric guitar opening laid the foundation for his eleven-year recording career, with nearly 80 titles released on...

On Friday, June 14, 2024, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) will host its first Juneteenth in the...

Pine Bluff native Smokie Norful is a world-renowned recording artist, musician, composer, pastor, and entrepreneur who has launched the...

Hailing from Arkansas, Queen Sylvia Embry was among Chicago’s few professional female blues singers and bass players, recording albums,...

With over six decades in the music industry, racking up awards and playing alongside greats like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Etta James,...