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All Music Guide:
Folks in Europe were hip to Larry Garner long before most blues fans in the states. The Baton Rouge guitarist had already toured extensively overseas, with two British albums to his credit, before Verve issued his stunning domestic debut, You Need to Live a Little, in 1995. Rooted in the swamp blues tradition indigenous to his Baton Rouge environs, Garner brings a laudable contemporary sensibility and witty composing skills to his craft.
Inspired by local swamp bluesmen Silas Hogan and Clarence Edwards, Garner learned how to play guitar from his uncle and a couple of gospel-playing elders. After completing his military service in Korea, he returned to Baton Rouge and embarked on a part-time musical career (he worked at a Dow chemical plant for almost two decades until his recent retirement).
The British JSP label released Garner's first two albums: Double Dues and Too Blues (the latter an ironic slap at an unidentified tin-eared U.S. blues label boss who deemed Garner's demo tape "too blues"). For You Need to Live a Little, Garner delivers creative originals detailing the difficulty of keeping "Four Cars Running" and the universal pain of suffering through "Another Bad Day." He is poised for 21st century blues stardom. Subsequent efforts include 1998's Standing Room Only, 1999's Baton Rouge, and 2000's Once Upon the Blues.
Wikipedia:
Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 album Too Blues.
Biography
Garner grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with his first inspiration being the guitar-playing preacher Reverend Utah Smith. Garner made acquaintance with local musicians such as Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan, Guitar Kelley and Tabby Thomas. His musical influences include Hogan, Clarence Edwards, Jimi Hendrix, and Henry Gray. He was taught to play guitar by his uncle and two other elders. Garner completed military service in Korea and returned to Baton Rouge, working part-time in music and full-time at a Dow Chemical plant.
Garner won the International Blues Challenge in 1988, and his first two albums, Double Dues and Too Blues, were released by the British JSP label. The latter album's title was an in reply to a label executive who judged Garner's original demo to be "too blues". Thomas' nightclub, Tabby's Blues Box, provided Garner with a playing base in the 1980s and gave him the subject matter for the strongest song on Double Dues, "No Free Rides".
You Need to Live a Little (1996) was followed by Standing Room Only (1998), Baton Rouge (1999) and 2000's Once Upon the Blues. Baton Rouge''s 1999 track, "Go To Baton Rouge," offered a tourist's guide to Louisiana music spots.
In 2008, Garner was treated for a serious illness that was the inspiration for his 2008 album, Here Today Gone Tomorrow.
