Larry Garner

Long before American blues listeners caught on, European audiences had already embraced Larry Garner. The guitarist from Baton Rouge spent years performing across the Atlantic and issued a pair of albums in Britain prior to the arrival of his striking American debut, You Need to Live a Little, which Verve released in 1995. Although steeped in the swamp blues sound native to his Baton Rouge surroundings, Garner applies a fresh, modern outlook and sharp songwriting talent to his work.

Local figures Silas Hogan and Clarence Edwards sparked his interest, yet he first picked up the guitar under the guidance of his uncle and two older gospel musicians. Once his military duty in Korea ended, he came back to Baton Rouge and pursued music on the side while holding a job at a Dow chemical plant for nearly twenty years, a position he left only upon retirement.

His earliest recordings appeared on the British JSP imprint: Double Dues and Too Blues, the second title serving as a pointed jab at an unnamed American label executive who had dismissed a demo as “too blues.” On You Need to Live a Little, Garner presents original songs that capture everyday struggles such as maintaining “Four Cars Running” and enduring the frustrations of “Another Bad Day.” Observers saw him as ready to claim a prominent place in twenty-first-century blues. Later releases followed with Standing Room Only in 1998, Baton Rouge in 1999, and Once Upon the Blues in 2000.