Blues Like an Electric Shock

Last, but definitely not least, was Scott Ainslie, a virtuoso of Delta blues slide guitar.

When he walked on stage, his 1931 National steel guitar shone like a polished silver chalice and he played it as if it were sacred. Scott has spent a great deal of time learning from the traditional blues players of Eastern North Carolina and has played with John Lee Hooker. He is an expert on Robert Johnson and has written a book about him, “Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads.”

Ainslie has tremendous skill coupled with an awesome love for the music. His voice is at times soft and keening and at other times booms out to match the intensity and power of his guitar.

There is no doubt in my mind that Scott Ainslie feels the blues the way the rest of us feel an electric shock; it courses through him like a current.

Ellen Arthur

The Spectator, Durham NC

Scott Ainslie

Born in Rochester NY in 1952, Scott Ainslie has been playing music on something since he was three years old. A guitarist since 1967 with powerful appreciation for and apprenticeships with elder black and white musicians in different musical traditions, Ainslie carries a portion of them forward in his own traditional blues performances and songwriting.

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