Roy Book Binder

A compelling performer on both acoustic guitar and vocals in the folk and blues idioms, Roy Book Binder has sustained a career in country blues that stretches back to the mid-1960s and his earliest sessions for Blue Goose. Pink Anderson and Rev. Gary Davis left the deepest marks on his approach; after spending the early portion of that decade working East Coast coffeehouses, he began traveling as Davis’s accompanist by the middle of the decade. Larry Johnson, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and Homesick James also shared stages with him during those years. In addition to relentless live work, he has documented his music on further Blue Goose releases as well as on Adelphi, Rounder, and his own PEGleg imprint.

Book Binder first picked up the blues guitar during his Navy enlistment. Once discharged, he briefly attended Rhode Island Junior College before transferring to New York’s New School for Social Research. He left school in 1967 upon meeting Rev. Gary Davis, whom he soon served as chauffeur while receiving intensive instruction from the blind master. His recording career began modestly with 1968 singles on Kicking Mule and Blue Goose. In 1969 he joined Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and Homesick James for an English tour, then issued his debut album, Travelin’ Man, on Adelphi the following year. That release launched an intensive schedule of American dates.

From 1973 onward he performed regularly with fiddler Fats Kaplin; their first joint effort, Git Fiddle Shuffle, appeared that same year. The pair worked as a duo for three years, issuing a second album, Ragtime Millionaire, in 1976. After the duo disbanded, Book Binder purchased a motor home that became his full-time residence. Following the 1979 release of Goin’ Back to Tampa, live performance took precedence; for nearly a decade he drove himself between clubs, coffeehouses, and festivals across the country.

He resumed studio work in 1988 with Rounder’s Bookaroo! Throughout the 1990s and into the new century he maintained both a steady touring pace and a regular recording schedule, producing The Hillbilly Blues Cats (1992, Rounder), Live Book...Don’t Start Me Talkin’... (1994, Rounder), Polk City Ramble (1998, Rounder), Singer Songwriter Bluesman (2001, PEGleg), and Live at the Fur Peace Station (2005, PEGleg).