Frank Matheis, Publisher/Editor/Writer
Frank Matheis, residing in the Hudson Valley of New York, has been close to the blues genre since he was a kid. He has been active in the blues on every level – from serious listener, record & CD collector, street musician, radio producer, DJ and writer. In many ways he is a “record store musicologist”, driven by passion and love for the roots & blues in a lifetime of living in music. He’s just doing what he has always done, following his weird lifelong obsession to tell other people what to listen to. He is a contributing writer to Living Blues magazine and formerly to Blues Access magazine, and the co-author with Phil Wiggins of the book Sweet Bitter Blues – Washington DC’s Homemade Blues, University Press of Mississippi, 2020.
>>Learn more about Frank.
Phil Wiggins, Advisor and Consultant
Blues harmonica player Phil Wiggins is a 2017 National Heritage Fellow, the highest award the nation bestows on its traditional artists. He is also a 2021 Maryland Heritage Fellow. Phil played for 32 years in the acoustic Piedmont blues duo Cephas & Wiggins, winners multiple W.C. Handy blues awards. He has recorded more than a dozen critically acclaimed albums (Flying Fish and Alligator Records, among others). He has appeared in numerous films and staged productions. His credentials as harmonica player, songwriter and bandleader have been honed over more than 40 years of playing with some of the greatest names in the blues. Phil has performed on every continent except Antarctica; and, in the White House, Carnegie Hall, Prince Albert Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Sydney Opera House. He is co-author of the book ‘Sweet Bitter Blues– Washington DC’s Homemade Blues’ with the writer Frank Matheis.
Bibiana Huang Matheis, Photographer
Bibiana is a professional fine art photographer in New York. For years she has accompanied Frank on his radio, writing and concert emcee work to photograph musicians. Her work has been shown in top galleries in New York, Chicago, Berlin and is part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture – Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. She has published her music photography in Blues Access, Living Blues and countless other publications. Check out her other work at: www.bibiphoto.com
Jackie Merritt, Advisory Board Member
The multitalented, multi-instrumentalist Jackie Merritt plays harmonica, guitar, bass and she taps bones (a percussion technique when bones or spoons are clapped). She is also an accomplished visual artist whose work has received wide critical acclaim . She started harmonica late in life with her musical passion, and she teaches painting and drawing at a local community college. Besides her dual activities as a visual and musical artist, Jackie Merritt is one of the founding members of the Natchel’ Blues Network, an organization formed in 1984 to advance blues by sponsoring concerts, workshops and other events in the Hampton Roads, Virginia region. She is also a superb songwriter who has something important to say with poignant, relevant songs. Plain out, she is a renaissance woman all around.
Johnny Petersen, Writer (now retired)
Johnny Petersen writes about the Scandinavian blues scene. He resides in Malmö, a town in the south of Sweden, just 30 minutes across the strait from Copenhagen. Copenhagen is also the place where Johnny gets most of his passion for traditional blues. He writes about the blues, history of the blues and the blues greats and interviews contemporary artists for the local association Malmoe-Copenhagen Blues Connexion and its quarterly journal, The Blues Bulletin. Born in ’49 he first heard the blues from The Rolling Stones first album in ’64, closely followed by Bob Dylan. At age seventeen he got special permission to attend the Club 19, a blues bar in Gothenburg, Sweden, where one had to be 21 to get in. A few years later the country blues became a permanent part of his life as he heard The Grateful Dead and learned to play their takes on songs like Sitting On Top Of The World. Beginning in 2012 he has been organizing a weekly Friday jam with friends called The Friday Blooze. He also runs the website http://www.folksyblues.com a bilingual site in Swedish and English. Johnny has a somewhat unusual history as he’s been a Buddhist monk in China and is currently the head of a Buddhist Temple in Malmö.
Resa Lynne Gibbs, Advisory Board Member
The golden voiced Resa Gibbs is a lead vocalist and percussionist. She is a deeply emotive singer with a rich, powerful and soulful singing voice. She is a vocal instructor who teaches occasionally at the prestigious Country Blues Workshops at Centrum, in Port Townsend, Washington and at Augusta Blues Week in Elkins, West Virginia. Resa Gibbs also is a swift percussionist and washboard player, but her greatest contribution is her wonderful, soulful singing, the type of voice that will give you the goose bumps and shakes you up inside, whether she sings spirituals, blues or roots-folk music. As seen in the photo, is is multi-talented and plays string instruments, including the cigar box guitar. Her deep blues and spirituals have been known to move even the cold hearted to tears.
Frank Götz, Writer
Frank lives near Basel, Switzerland but grew up on both sides of the Atlantic. He is bilingual and feels equally at home in German and English. Born in 1962, he earned an MA degree in Philosophy and German Literature from the University of Basel, followed by years of archival research and freelance journalism in the cultures department. He has published hundreds of articles in Swiss, German and Austrian newspapers. He now works as a social worker and educator near his home town and enjoys reading, writing, painting, cooking, and travelling the world in his free time. Like many of his generation, Frank first became aware of the blues in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, while listening to rock and pop music. He spent hours poring over the small print on the album sleeves, only to discover that many of the songs he came to love weren’t written by the artists that recorded them, but by musicians he had never heard of before. That was the first time he encountered names like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Skip James, and Blind Willie Johnson. Since then, the blues have become a kind of obsession, more than just another pastime or hobby. The older he gets, in fact, the more intrigued Frank becomes by the historical, social and cultural roots of the genre. The closer he listens, the deeper and richer and more beautiful those good ol’ Country Blues sound.
Jay Summerour Advisory Board Member
The Maryland-based country blues harmonica player spent 30 years with his late duo partner Warner Williams. Sometimes they were billed as Little Bit a Blues, with Eric Selby on drums. In and around the D.C. region they were a regular fixture, and integral part of the musical landscape. Like Cephas & Wiggins they carry on the guitar-harmonica tradition of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, a duo that Jay Summerour has often described as his idol. Jay has played all over, including at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. He also often partnered with Michael Baytop. After Warner’s death, he continued to play with Eleanor Ellis, Mark Puryear and others in and around the Washington DC metro area and beyond. Jay is a good friend to the country blues.com and his trusted advice is always poignant and on target. Remarkably, he is a harmonica virtuoso who can play many styles including blues, country, hillbilly, gospel and anything in between, he is at home no matter what style. He was a regular at Archie Edwards’ barbershop. Back then it was just Eleanor Ellis, Phil Wiggins, Archie, Mike Baytop, NJ Warren, and Mr. Bones all playing around the barbershop.
Geoffrey “Stingy Brim” Seals, Advisory Board Member
Stingy Brim Seals, originally from Buffalo New York resides in Maryland in the Greater DC area. As an accomplished harmonica player, he has been playing blues harmonica since 1997. He has taught classes at Augusta Blues Week by invitation of Phil Wiggins. He is a highly respected blues aficionado, a cultured and learned gentleman who plays a major role at Archie’s barbershop. He has taught beginner harmonica lessons at Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins WV 2016-2019, plus he teaches harmonica at the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation, in Hyattsville, Maryland. thecountryblues is honored to have his wise council as he loves the acoustic blues deeply, as a performer and facilitator.
Brian Kramer, Blues Caricaturist and Illustrator
Brian is an American expatriate who now resides in Sweden. He has been a professional bluesman since 1983, with his first gig at Folk City in Greenwich Village of New York. He is also a brilliant caricaturist who has contributed a sizable series of acoustic blues musician illustrations to the site, images which can be accessed from the main menu. Brian has performed and recorded with Junior Wells, Mick Taylor, Eric Bibb, Larry Johnson and many others. He has shared the stage, traded licks and recorded with Taj Mahal, Toumani Diabate, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Robin Ford, Bobby Rush, Corey Harris, John Mayall, Sven Zetterberg, Jimmy Dawkins and many others. He published a novel Out of the Blues and was officially inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. A successful career all the way. He revived his visual art career during the pandemic after many years dedicated to music, since the music died during Covid. For Brian, this was the silver lining and the blues world can rejoice in this newfound, unexpected cultural treasure. We are proud to feature his amazing work.
Mary Smith, Webmaster
Mary is a web designer in Annapolis, Maryland. Before taking up web design in 2017, she taught high school science and technology (including web design) and has come to realize how similar effective web design is to effective teaching. Both involve making content engaging and accessible, making it easy to complete tasks, and using feedback to make improvements. Mary earned a Web Design Certificate from Anne Arundel Community College where she continues to enjoy taking Art classes. Find out more about Mary and her work at mksmithdesign.com.