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Louisiana Red

The Giant of Blues

Born Iverson Minter on March 23, 1936, in Bessema, Alabama. His mother died of pneumonia a week after his birth, and his father was killed when he was five years old, reportedly by the Klu Klux Klan. His grandmother gave him his first guitar a few years later, and he honed his skills while playing for tips on the streets of Pittsburgh. Louisiana Red recorded under various pseudonyms before settling on "Louisiana Red"."Louisiana Red" a nickname apparently derived from his love of Louisiana hot sauce. For several years during Louisiana Red's heyday in the 50's, he was part of the Detroit blues scene. Louisiana Red has played with just about every major bluesman you can name, some of the most memorable encounters being his jams with B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Elmore James. In 1981 Louisiana Red left the United States for living now in Germany. In 1983 Louisiana Red won the W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist. Louisiana Red not only plays the blues, Louisiana Red lives it through his guitar and his singing. Strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Lightnin‘ Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, Louisiana Red has long ago found his own voice, his own style, his own form of expression. When Louisiana Red performs, the songs are often only launching pad for expressing his immediate feelings in the almost lost tradition of spontaneous composition that goes back to the original Delta Blues artists an even further to the West-African griot bards. But it doesn’t matter who Louisiana Red plays with or where he appears - Louisiana Red brings the same intensitiy and enthusiasm to every stage he appears on, whether in front of 10,000 people at a festival or 100 people in an intimate club. In the past 7 years, Louisiana Red has returned to the U.S. every summer for a successful tour of blues festivals and select club dates.

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