Play Like Mississippi John Hurt: Steve James, Happy Traum, and John Sebastian Show You How

"Here is a clip of Mississippi John Hurt performing “You’ve Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley” in 1966 shortly before his passing. This performance was featured as a segment on Pete Seeger’s “Rainbow Quest” Born in Teoc, Mississippi, around 1892-1893, Hurt grew up in Avalon, Mississippi. His parents were formerly enslaved, and his journey into music began when he left school around age ten and taught himself guitar. His mother bought him his first instrument (a guitar) for about $1.50 when he was

Mississippi John Hurt and Elizabeth Cotten are two of my favorite ragtime fingerpickers, so I wanted to pay a little tribute to their influence with this medley of "Make me a Pallet on Your Floor" by John Hurt and "Freight Train" by Elizabeth Cotten. I recorded it on this cool old "Unicon" Archtop guitar, which has a beautiful, dry, vintage tone... perfect for that old blues ragtime feel! | Justin Johnson