Frank Hutchison

A West Virginia coal miner, Frank Hutchison learned country blues guitar from neighbors like Bill Hunt, Henry Vaughn, and Dick Justice. With a harmonica rig around his neck and a penknife as a slide, Hutchison cut 32 sides for Okeh Records between 1926 and 1929 (among them "Stackalee," "K.C. Blues," and "Railroad Blues") and worked the medicine show circuit until the stock market crashed in 1929--effectively ending his career. One of the first notable white men to record blues music, Hutchinson had an enormous influence on Doc Watson (who had a hit with his "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town"), Mike Seeger, and Bob Dylan.