Somebody Told the Truth

Somebody Told the Truth

Editorial Reviews
<"b00006j3vl2999"> About the Artist
John Cephas was born in Washington, D.C. in 1930 into a deeply religious family and raised in Bowling Green, Virginia. His first taste of music was gospel, but blues soon became his calling. After learning to play the alternating thumb and fingerpicking guitar style that defines Piedmont blues, John began emulating the records he heard by Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis and other early Piedmont artists. Aside from playing blues, John worked early on as a professional gospel singer, carpenter and Atlantic fisherman. By the 1960s, he was starting to make a living from his music. Since hooking up as a duo with Wiggins in 1977, he has performed all over the world, serving as an ambassador of this singular American art form. Among his many endeavors, John serves on the Executive Committee of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, and has testified before congressional committees. He is also a founder of the Washington, D.C. Blues Society. "More than anything else," says John, "I would like to see a revival of country blues by more young people…more people going to concerts, learning to play the music. That's why I stay in the field of traditional music. I don't want it to die."

Phil Wiggins was born in Washington, D.C. in 1954. He began his musical career with some of Washington's leading blues artists, including Archie Edwards and John Jackson, and attributes his style to his years spent accompanying locally noted slide guitarist and gospel singer Flora Molton. His harmonica sound developed from listening to piano and horn players, as well as the music of Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and Junior Wells. Phil also apprenticed with Mother Scott (a contemporary of Bessie Smith). Phil first met John in 1976 at the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Along with pianist Wilber "Big Chief" Ellis and bassist James Bellamy, John and Phil formed the Barrelhouse Rockers. A year after Ellis' death, the duo of Cephas & Wiggins was born. Besides being a renowned harmonica player, Wiggins is also a gifted songwriter and singer whose material has helped define the duo's sound.

<"b00006j3vl4999"> Album Description
Because both Cephas and Wiggins were born in Washington, D.C., they bring an urban sophistication to the traditionally rural blues they perform. With their new album (and third for Alligator), SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH, Cephas & Wiggins' spirited and seamless mix of both original and classic material sheds a bright light on Piedmont blues. Of the album's 13 songs, Cephas wrote or co-wrote three and Wiggins wrote two. With the solid mix of brightly played music fueled by Cephas’ gently rolling guitar and vocals and driven by Wiggins’ freight train chugging harmonica, Somebody Told The Truth is the antidote for anyone who still thinks blues music is a soundtrack for sadness. According to Wiggins, "People automatically think of sadness and depression when they think of blues. But the blues is uplifting music, music to rejuvenate you, to nourish the spirit. When you get down, the blues will pick you up again."

Somebody Told the Truth, Music, Cephas & Wiggins, Acoustic Blues, Blues, Blues Music, East Coast Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues, Piedmont Blues, Pop

Somebody Told the Truth

google.com

Music: