McKinley "Guitar Harp" James was born in Macon, GA in 1935. In 1937 he and his mother moved to Macon County, AL to be closer to relatives and work. As a boy McKinley saved the money he made picking cotton so he could buy his first guitar, which he paid $15 for to a man down the street who sold the family vegetables. His mother tired to teach him the basics, and a neighbor, Bo Bo Brown taught him to pick and use a bottleneck. McKinley began singing gospel in The Golden Four Quartet and joined The Wings of Victory two years later, where he sang and played guitar. From there he became a one-man band and played at local shows that ranged from jails to fish fries to weddings and funerals. "I was here, there and everywhere, just like Old MacDonald's farm," McKinley recalled with a laugh.
Well folks, it's nearly that time of the year again. Make a plan to head over to Gordo, AL for the Mule Day/Chickenfest festivities on Friday, June 4 and Saturday, June 5th. This year's event includes the addition of a midway and the presentation of the 2010 Year of Alabama Small Towns & Downtowns historical marker (on Saturday).
And there is plenty of good food to be had including gator on a stick and the amazing and delicious fried blooming onions.
The child of a Honky Tonk bar owner and a Baptist piano player, Arkansas born Dale "The Polecat" Beavers was raised knowing the differences between sin & redemption and has been dealing with the conflicts of it ever since. His musical travels have found him playing & recording with blues, soul and rock-n-roll legends such as Junior Kimbrough, Dale Hawkins and Nathaniel Mayer. He now calls Michigan home and recently was named best blues artist in Real Detroit Weekly 
"You're in for a wild Western psychedelic sonic ride thru the streets of Detroit when DUENDE! takes the stage. This Motor City five have been taking their show on the road and introducing others to their brand of dark Americana rock"
Pennsylvania's Christian Beshore is a genre-bending One-Man-Band. Though the music is stripped down, with simple instrumentation, many don’t believe all that sound is coming from one person. You might call it Hound Dog Taylor meets Jack White. Or, Tom Waits’ and P.J. Harvey’s love child. With just his voice, a three string guitar, kick drum and hi-hat, his music stands firmly on its own.
Sure enough Birmingham Bounce took off immediately and became a regional hit. Paul Cohen, A&R director for Decca Records, took an interest and tried to buy the master to reissue on Decca, which had national distribution. But the Bama release was selling well and Bama’s owner, Manny Pearson, refused the offer. So Decca released a Red Foley cover version that became a #1 country hit in 1950. In the wake of Foley’s hit, record dealers returned Hardrock’s Bama release in droves. A total of 21 cover versions of Birmingham Bounce then went on to be recorded by other artists including Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Amos Milburn, Pee Wee King and Tex Williams. 
Sidney’s third guitar, a Kalamazoo made by Gibson, arrived one Christmas and he got his first lesson from Buck Weaver, a close friend of the Texas Drifter, who also worked as a gasfitter with Sidney's dad. Sidney quickly set about mastering both the guitar and every nuance of his hero Hank Penny, also a native of Birmingham. Hank Penny’s Western Swing band was a novelty in Birmingham and Sidney was enthralled by everything about Hank, especially his slick Western costume and his flair for comedy. Hank had adapted the Vaudeville comedy routines of Weber and Fields and created the character of “That Plain Ol' Country Boy”. Years later, they would become friends and Hank would remember Sidney as the boy with the guitar in a toe sack who would come to see his band – and ask if he could get up and play with them.
In 1939, Goofy Sid had won an Irondale talent show for thirteen weeks running. Around that time Happy “Tex” Wilson phoned the show’s promoter, Mrs. Sy Wages, looking for talent for an act he was putting together and she recommended young Gunter for the job. Happy Wilson was a native of Haleyville, Alabama and had just returned to his home base in Birmingham from Hollywood where he’d been appearing in Ray Corrigan’s Three Musketeers movies. Sidney enthusiastically accepted Wilson’s offer and at the age of 14, would make his first professional appearance with Happy Wilson’s Golden River Boys in Atlanta.
But Hardrock wasn’t done making history just yet. His follow-up Bama release “Gonna Dance All Night” was the first song to use the blues vernacular term for sex, “rock and roll”, to describe music. (The song’s original title “Gonna Rock and Roll, Gonna Dance All Night” was vetoed by Manny Pearson for religious reasons.) Sam Phillips of Sun Records saw the band perform and asked Hardrock to record Gonna Dance All Night in Memphis. But Hardrock was so busy at his radio station job that he recorded a version for Phillips in Birmingham released as Sun 201 in 1953.
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