The National Guitar Museum To Honor David “Honeyboy” Edwards

David “Honeyboy” Edwards is the last of the true Mississippi Delta bluesmen, an important artistic bridge between the acoustic blues of Robert Johnson and Charley Patton and the modern day blues scene. Almost 95 years old, Edwards is still rockin’ audiences with a handful of tour dates each year, and his 2008 album Roamin’ and Ramblin’ earned the bluesman a Blues Music Award nomination to follow up his 2007 award as “Acoustic Artist of the Year.”

Just as Edwards hasn’t slowed down, neither have the accolades coming his way. Edwards was given a Grammy™ Lifetime Achievement Award in February, the Delta blues legend honored alongside artists from others musical genres like Leonard Cohen, Michael Jackson, Loretta Lynn, and others. During the week-long Grammy™ celebration in Los Angeles, Edwards performed on “Mississippi Night” at the Grammy™ Museum with other home state bluesmen like Eddie Cotton and Hubert Sumlin, and later that month he received the Mississippi Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts.

The Last of The Original Blues Guitarists

The National GUITAR Museum – the first museum in the United States dedicated to the history, evolution, and cultural impact of the guitar – announced that David “Honeyboy” Edwards, the last of the original Delta blues guitarists, will receive its “Lifetime Achievement” Award. The award will be presented to Edwards in aceremony at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Manhattan on March 11, 2010.

Born in Shaw, Mississippi in 1915, Edwards was one of the first traveling bluesmen, sharing a life on the road with notables who have long since passed on, including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Howlin’ Wolf. Over the course of eight decades, Edwards has performed his brand of original blues for people all over the United States and Europe – and he shows no signs of slowing down. As far back as 1942, Honeyboy’s guitar playing was recorded for the Library of Congress, and more than 60 years later he received a 2008 Grammy award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

“The guitar is the most enduring icon in American history,” says HP Newquist, the executive director of The National GUITAR Museum. “It’s been around longer than baseball, basketball, soft drinks, and sports cars. And Honeyboy Edwards is the one guitarist today who has been part of the guitar’s history longer than anyone else. He is a guitarist who was present at the birth of the blues. We’re honored to be able to recognize his contribution to the guitar with this award.”

After the presentation, the 94-year old Edwards will perform a concert at B.B. King’s, located in the heart of New York’s fabled Times Square.

About The National GUITAR Museum:
The National GUITAR Museum is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the history, evolution, and cultural impact of the guitar. Its Touring Exhibition, “GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked The World” will travel to 15 cities over the next several years before becoming the basis of The National Guitar Museum in its permanent home. The Touring Exhibition will consist of engaging, entertaining, and educational displays specific to the guitar, including historical artifacts, video screens, and computer interactives designed to appeal to visitors of all ages.

The Museum’s Board of Advisors includes guitar greats Steve Vai, Ritchie Blackmore, Johnny Winter, Steve Howe, Liona Boyd, and Pat Kirtley.

More info about The National GUITAR Museum : www.nationalguitarmuseum.com