The team of guitarist John Cephas and harpist Phil Wiggins have pursued their vision of the Piedmont blues for over thirty years. Building upon a blueprint created by such musical forebears as Blind Boy Fuller and Tampa Red, Cephas & Wiggins have kept the flame of Piedmont blues alive even while they expanded the stylistic barriers of the music. The pair's popularity is truly worldwide, and their influence can be heard in the music of younger acoustic bluesmen like Guy Davis and Corey Harris.
John Cephas & Phil Wiggins
"Bowling Green" John Cephas was born in 1930 in Washington, D.C. to a deeply religious family. Although his first exposure to music was with gospel music in the church, an aunt taught him the blues at an early age. Cephas learned his Piedmont fingerpicking guitar style from a cousin, David Taleofero, and began playing weekend events with friends and family at the age of nine. His early musical repertoire included ragtime and songs from artists like Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, Tampa Red, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. The "Bowling Green" nickname is associated with Bowling Green, Virginia where Cephas grew up.
A generation younger than his long-time partner, Phil Wiggins was also born in Washington, D.C. in 1954, but spent summers during his childhood at his grandmother's house in Alabama, where he was exposed to Southern gospel music. He took to the harmonica at a young age, and learned his craft at the foot of some of the D.C. area's best blues artists, including the notable slide-guitarist Flora Molton. Influenced by great blues harpists like Sonny Terry, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, and Little Walter, Wiggins developed a unique style as a harpist, singer, and songwriter.
The Barrelhouse Rockers
Cephas & Wiggins began their lengthy association after playing together at the 1976 Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. Wiggins had been playing with Mother Scott, a Bessie Smith contemporary, while Cephas had been playing house parties with the aged barrelhouse pianist Wilbert "Big Chief" Ellis. After the festival, Cephas and Wiggins formed the Barrelhouse Rockers with Ellis and bassist James Bellamy. Sadly, the band lasted only a short while and never recorded as Ellis passed away in 1977.
After the death of Ellis, Cephas and Wiggins carried on as an acoustic duo, making a name for themselves playing Southeastern blues clubs. The pair drew their inspiration from the traditional Piedmont blues music of Virginia and North Carolina, but imbued their throwback sound with a contemporary edge, mixing in strains of gospel, Delta blues, R&B, ragtime, and even country music into both blues standards and their inspired original songs. They rapidly became favorites on the folk and blues festival circuit.
The European Decade
Cephas & Wiggins spent much of the decade of the 1980s performing overseas, often under the direct sponsorship of the U.S. State Department. The duo stayed busy, touring Europe, Africa, Central and South America, China, Australia, and even New Zealand. In 1988, they were among the first Americans to perform at the Russian Folk Festival in Moscow. While in Europe, they recorded their first two albums, including the acclaimed 1984 album Sweet Bitter Blues for the German L&R label.
In 1986, Cephas & Wiggins recorded their first U.S. album, the W.C. Handy Award-winning Dog Days Of August, which was recorded in John's living room and released by the Chicago-based folk music label Flying Fish. The pair would also win another Handy Award for their 1987 album Guitar Man.
After leaving Flying Fish, the pair released albums for a couple of labels before landing a deal with Alligator Records. The association would prove to be a productive one. Beginning with their 1996 debut for the label, Cool Down, Cephas & Wiggins albums like 1999's Homemade and 2002's Somebody Told The Truth would garner critical acclaim and numerous awards and nominations.
Honors & Accolades
Cephas and Wiggins remained fan favorites on the blues festival circuit well into the new century, and have garnered better than half a dozen W.C. Handy/Blues Music Award nominations for both their recordings and their performances. John Cephas received a National Heritage Fellowship Award in 1989 for his work in keeping the Piedmont blues sound alive, and in 1997 Cephas & Wiggins performed for then President Bill Clinton. Living Blues magazine called Cephas & Wiggins "today’s premier blues guitar and harmonica duo."
John Cephas passed away on March 4th, 2009 of natural causes at the age of 78 years, ending a creative partnership with Phil Wiggins that had lasted better than three decades. Richmond Blues, the duo's final album, was released in 2008 by the Smithsonian Folkways label.
Recommended Albums: The duo's first album for the Flying Fish label, 1986's Dog Days of August remains a fan favorite, while their Alligator Records debut, 1996's Cool Down, is widely considered the best representation of Cephas & Wiggins' homegrown Piedmont blues sound.
Cephas & Wiggins Discography
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- Living Country Blues USA, Vol. 1 (L&R Records, 1981)
- Sweet Bitter Blues (L+R Records, 1984)
- Dog Days of August (Flying Fish Records, 1986)
- Guitar Man (Flying Fish Records, 1987)
- Walking Blues (Marimac Records, 1988)
- Flip, Flop & Fly (Flying Fish Records, 1992)
- Bluesmen (Chesky Records, 1993)
- Cool Down (Alligator Records, 1996)
- Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad (Evidence Records, 1998)
- Homemade (Alligator Records, 1999)
- From Richmond To Atlanta (Bullseye Blues, 2000)
- Somebody Told the Truth (Alligator Records, 2002)
- Shoulder to Shoulder (Alligator Records, 2006)
- Richmond Blues (Smithsonian Folkways, 2008)
