{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} {{short description|American blues musician (1948–2021)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Sherman Robertson | image = Sherman-Robertson.jpg | caption = Robertson performing in 2005 | image_upright = 1.2 | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1948|10|27}} | birth_place = Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|1|28|1948|10|27}}<ref name="matters">[https://bluesmatters.com/remembering-sherman-robertson-1948-2021/ "Remembering Sherman Robertson, 1948-2021"], ''Blues Matters'', February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021</ref> | death_place = | instrument = Guitar, vocals | genre = Blues | occupation = Musician | years_active = 1980s–2012 | label = Atlantic/Code Blue Records, Sledgehammer Blues/AudioQuest Music, various | website = {{URL|shermanrobertsonmusic.com}} }}

'''Sherman Robertson''' (October 27, 1948 – January 28, 2021) was an American blues guitarist and singer who has been described as "one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues and one part classic rhythm and blues."<ref name="AMG" />

== Biography == Robertson was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana,<ref name="AMG" /> and raised in Houston, Texas.<ref name="russell">{{cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher= Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | page= 159 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}</ref> At the age of 13, he watched a performance on television by Hank Williams.<ref name="LarkinBlues">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Blues|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=305}}</ref> Duly inspired and equipped with a cheap guitar purchased by his father, he started playing the songs previously performed by Freddie King and Floyd London. London resided in the same part of Houston as Robertson.<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> As he lived close to the Duke/Peacock recording studio, Robertson took the opportunity to acquaint himself with some of the musicians who recorded there. At the same time, in his late teens, Robertson played in a band in various bars of his Fifth Ward, Houston neighborhood.<ref name="AMG" />

In 1982, Clifton Chenier heard Robertson's band playing at the Crosstown Blues Festival. Robertson moved back to Louisiana, learned to play slide guitar, and toured for several years in the 1980s with Chenier.<ref name="AMG" /> Robertson contributed to his ''Live At The'' (1982) and ''San Francisco Blues Festival'' (1985) albums.<ref name="russell" /> After Chenier's death, Robertson played with Rockin' Dopsie, appearing on his ''Crowned Prince Of Zydeco'' album (1986), and Terrance Simien & the Mallet Playboys, before going solo.<ref name="russell" />

In addition, Robertson's guitar work appeared on Paul Simon's ''Graceland'' album,<ref name="russell" /> and he was on the bill at the 1994 Notodden Blues Festival.

Robertson's ''I'm the Man'' (1994) was the first release on the Code Blue label.<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> It was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award.<ref>[http://www.houstonbluessociety.org/links/localbands.php?Id=75] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109002122/http://www.houstonbluessociety.org/links/localbands.php?Id=75 |date=January 9, 2010 }}</ref> Robertson's follow-up, ''Here & Now'' (1995), included his cover of the Tracy Nelson song "Here & Now".<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|author=Richard Skelly |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sherman-robertson-mn0000027394/biography |title=Sherman Robertson &#124; Biography |publisher=AllMusic |date=October 27, 1948 |access-date=January 28, 2014}}</ref> However the record label folded and Robertson re-appeared in 1998 on the independent label, Audioquest, with his next offering, ''Going Back Home''. In November 2005 he released ''Guitar Man – Live'' with his new backing band, BluesMove.

In 2008, Robertson and BluesMove played at the Harvest Time Blues festival in Monaghan, Ireland. In 2011, Robertson and BluesMove appeared at the Rhythm Festival in Bedfordshire, England.<ref>[http://www.rhythmfestival.com/sherman-robertson] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519112421/http://www.rhythmfestival.com/sherman-robertson |date=May 19, 2011 }}</ref>

In 2012, a proposed concert in Gaildorf, Germany, was canceled after Robertson suffered a stroke.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://bmansblueslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/guitar-man-sherman-robertson.html |title=Bman's Blues Library: Guitar Man – Sherman Robertson |publisher=Bmansblueslibrary.blogspot.co.uk |date=October 27, 2012 |access-date=January 28, 2014}}</ref> He died in 2021, aged 72.<ref name="matters" />

== Discography == *''I'm the Man'' (1994) – Atlantic/Code Blue Records *''Here & Now'' (1996) – Atlantic/Code Blue Records *''Going Back Home'' (1998) – Sledgehammer Blues (formerly AudioQuest Music)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.valley-entertainment.com/going-back-home-1.html |title=Going Back Home |website=Valley-entertainment.com|access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> *''Guitar Man – Live'' (2005) – Movin Records<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sherman-robertson-mn0000027394/discography |title=Sherman Robertson &#124; Discography |website=AllMusic |date=October 27, 1948 |access-date=January 28, 2014}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.shermanrobertsonmusic.com/shermanrobertsonmusic/Biography.html Official website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604040202/http://www.nme.com/artists/sherman-robertson Photograph and videos at NME.com] *[http://www.movinmusic.co.uk/sherman_robertson/srarticles.htm Magazine articles at Movinmusic.co.uk]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Sherman}} Category:1948 births Category:2021 deaths Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American blues singers Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from Louisiana Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Singers from Louisiana Category:Musicians from Houston Category:American slide guitarists Category:People from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Category:Blues musicians from Louisiana Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:Guitarists from Louisiana Category:Guitarists from Texas Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male songwriters