Larry Garner has successfully exported his own brand of Louisiana swamp blues to an appreciative European audience, whilst steadily gaining popularity on the other side of the Atlantic. He was born today in 1952.
1952:
Blues guitarist/vocalist Larry Garner born, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Playing guitar as a youngster, Larry completed his army service before returning home and finding work at a chemical plant, continuing to play purely for his own amusement.
Finding himself at Baton Rouge club Tabby’s Blues Box one night in the early 1970s however would have a profound effect and encouraged Garner to up his game. Within a few years he was appearing in that club and later graduated to playing venues in New Orleans.
Finally bowing to the inevitable and quitting the day job to devote himself to practicing, writing, playing and travelling to wherever he could gain a booking, Larry carried off the International Blues Challenge accolade in 1988 and gained popularity in Europe.
Featured on specialist blues shows on BBC Radio 2, and going down a storm at the 1992 Burnley Blues Festival. English label JSP signed Garner on the strength of a self-produced cassette and his debut album “Double Dues” emerged in 1993, closely followed by “Two Blues”.
“You Need to Live a Little” then belatedly introduced Larry to US consumers in 1995 and he’s continued to record and perform regularly with his band since then, successfully undergoing a triple heart bypass in 2007. 2012 brought “Blues For Sale” – his tenth full-length effort – and Larry made another trip to perform in the UK, alongside The Norman Beaker Band.
Check out and purchase Larry Garner CDs from our e-shop, Propermusic.com by clicking on the logo below:
And here’s some footage of Larry in action:
