# Archie Edwards

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{{short description|American Piedmont blues guitarist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Archie Edwards
| birth_date      = {{birth_date|1918|9|4|mf=y}}<br/>[Union Hall, Virginia](/source/Union_Hall%2C_Virginia), United States
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1998|6|18|1918|9|4|mf=y}}<br/>[Seat Pleasant, Maryland](/source/Seat_Pleasant%2C_Maryland), United States
| instrument      = Guitar, vocals
| genre           = [Piedmont blues](/source/Piedmont_blues)<ref name="AMG"/>
| occupation      = Guitarist, singer, songwriter
| years_active    = 1950s&ndash;1998
}}

'''Archie L. Edwards''' (September 4, 1918 &ndash; June 18, 1998)<ref name="Dead">{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1998.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club 1998–1999 |publisher=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com |date= |access-date=2015-10-02}}</ref> was an American [Piedmont blues](/source/Piedmont_blues) guitarist, who in a sporadic career spanning several decades worked with [Mississippi John Hurt](/source/Mississippi_John_Hurt), [Skip James](/source/Skip_James), and [John Jackson](/source/John_Jackson_(blues_musician)).<ref name="AMG"/> His best-known recordings are "Saturday Night Hop", "The Road Is Rough and Rocky", and "I Called My Baby Long Distance". In the late 1950s he owned a barbershop that attracted blues musicians who helped to start his musical career.<ref name="Dead"/>

Describing his musical style, Edwards said, "I play what they call the old Piedmont style, but I call it East Virginia blues 'cause that's where I learned it".<ref name="AEBHF"/>

==Biography==
Edwards was born on a farm near [Union Hall, Virginia](/source/Union_Hall%2C_Virginia). His early work left some time to engage with local musicians, but he had to share his first guitar with his two brothers. Inspired by recordings of [Blind Boy Fuller](/source/Blind_Boy_Fuller) and [Blind Lemon Jefferson](/source/Blind_Lemon_Jefferson), he played locally and found employment in a sawmill. In 1937, he relocated to [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey), where he worked as a chauffeur, He later worked in a hotel in [Columbus, Ohio](/source/Columbus%2C_Ohio).<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p33882/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Archie Edwards |author=Seida, Linda |publisher=[Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) |access-date=September 15, 2011}}</ref><ref name="AEBHF"/> Edwards served in the [military police](/source/military_police) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II). He struggled to settle in the postwar years and eventually found work as a barber. He opened his own barbershop in Washington, D.C., in 1959. It was frequented by [Mississippi John Hurt](/source/Mississippi_John_Hurt), and the duo formed a loose working relationship with [Skip James](/source/Skip_James), which endured for several years before Hurt's death in 1966. After mourning his friend, Edwards wrote the song "The Road Is Rough and Rocky".<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="AEBHF">{{cite web |url=http://www.acousticblues.com/Archie/archie.html |title=Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation |author=Burton, Richard |date= |publisher=Acousticblues.com |access-date=September 15, 2011}}</ref>

Edwards found more regular work at music festivals and in local [clubs](/source/nightclub). He also joined [John Jackson](/source/John_Jackson_(blues_musician)), [John Cephas and Phil Wiggins](/source/Cephas_%26_Wiggins), [Flora Molton](/source/Flora_Molton) and Mother Scott, who performed around Washington billed as the Travelling Blues Workshop.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="AEBHF"/><ref name="Herzhaft">{{cite book
| first= Gérard
| last= Herzhaft
| year= 1997
| title= Encyclopedia of the Blues
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= University of Arkansas Press
| location= Fayetteville
| isbn= 1-55728-452-0
| page= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herz/page/34 34]
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herz/page/34
}}</ref>

In 1982, Edwards joined the [American Folk Blues Festival](/source/American_Folk_Blues_Festival) in a tour of Europe. L & R Records subsequently released ''Living Country Blues USA, Vol. 6: The Road Is Rough'' (1982). After returning from touring continental Europe, Edwards teamed up with Eleanor Ellis and Flora Molton. The threesome toured across the United States, Canada and Europe, including [Charlie Musselwhite](/source/Charlie_Musselwhite) in the entourage in 1987.<ref name="AEBHF"/>

Edwards then recorded for [Mapleshade Records](/source/Mapleshade_Records), releasing ''Blues 'n Bones'' in 1989.<ref name="Albums"/>

Edwards died in [Seat Pleasant, Maryland](/source/Seat_Pleasant%2C_Maryland), in June 1998, at the age of 79.<ref name="Dead"/> The posthumous album ''The Toronto Sessions'' is based on work he recorded in Canada in 1986.

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year || Title || Record label
|-
| 1981 || ''Living Country Blues USA, Vol. 6: The Road Is Rough'' || style="text-align:left;"|L & R Records
|-
| 1989 || ''Blues 'n Bones'' || style="text-align:left;"|[Mapleshade](/source/Mapleshade_Records)
|-
| 2001 || ''The Toronto Sessions'' || style="text-align:left;"|[NorthernBlues](/source/NorthernBlues_Music)
|}<ref name="Albums">{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/archie-edwards-mn0000601474/discography |title=Archie Edwards: Album Discography |publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic).com |date= |access-date=2015-10-02}}</ref>

==See also==
*[List of Piedmont blues musicians](/source/List_of_Piedmont_blues_musicians)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wirz.de/music/edwafrm.htm Illustrated discography at Wirz.de]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Archie}}
Category:1918 births
Category:1998 deaths
Category:American blues guitarists
Category:American male guitarists
Category:American blues singers
Category:Piedmont blues musicians
Category:Singers from Virginia
Category:Songwriters from Virginia
Category:People from Franklin County, Virginia
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:Guitarists from Virginia
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:Northern Blues Music artists
Category:Mapleshade Records artists
Category:American military personnel of World War II
Category:American military police officers
Category:American male songwriters
Category:20th-century American songwriters

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Archie Edwards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Edwards) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Edwards?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.