Little Joe McLerran - FaceBook Blues (2012)

Little Joe McLerran was born in Boulder, Colorado in July 1983. He fell in love with the guitar and began studying the Piedmont Blues style when he was 8 years old. Joe first performed for a fourth grade class program singing and playing Leadbelly’s “Take this Hammer” concluding with a complicated guitar rag by Rev. Gary Davis, “The Slow Drag”.

Little Joe started out playing a type of blues known as Piedmont Blues, a musical style common to the south eastern part of the US during the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

At 18 he released his first CD as Son Piedmont. Little Joe’s music has broadened somewhat over the years but still relies on the intricate finger picking he’s famous for. With 5 albums under his belt he continues to grow.

The International Blues Challenge is hosted each year by the Blues Foundation, headquartered in Memphis. The competition is divided into two categories, solo/duo and bands. Little Joe McLerran went solo to Memphis representing the Blues Society of Tulsa. “This is easily the BST’s biggest achievement”, said BST president Bill Martin. In an interview Little Joe said, “It feels so great. I got to bring it home to Tulsa.”

In 2010 Little Joe was selected by the US State Department to take part in the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad. He traveled to the Persian Gulf region of the Middle East with his band, the Little Joe McLerran Quartet.

Little Joe continues to travel to festivals and for the US State Department as a musical ambassador presenting educational and cultural exchange missions and plays festivals, concerts and clubs across the state, across the country, and around the world.