Little” Joe Bourgeois is a singer and performer of country blues who was born in Massachusetts but raised in Arkansas about 70 miles northwest of Memphis. In his new home Ridgeway, West Virginia, and throughout the country, he delivers his music in a rough-hewn style that is authentic, emotional, and thrilling.
As a child of a musical family, he was heavily influenced by the music he heard at church and family gatherings. Hymns, southern gospel, country & western, old time and bluegrass were the sounds of his youth. Soon after beginning his musical journey on the guitar, he was introduced to blues through his parents’ Christmas presents of “The Best of B.B. King” and “The Country Blues Songbook”. From there he learned blues techniques from older, experienced Delta blues players.
His main musical influences are B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Doc Watson, Joe Pass, Mississippi John Hurt, Jimi Hendrix and Danny Gatton, but his style is undeniably his own.