Roy Book Binder bought his first guitar in Naples, heard his first Lightnin' Hopkins record in Marseille and read his first Jack Kerouac novels while cruising the North Atlantic. It was 1965, and after three years of sailing around the world on an aircraft carrier with the U.S. Navy, Roy was eager for the open road. After getting back to the States, he met a blind preacher named Rev. Gary Davis in New York and an old medicine show performer called Pink Anderson in North Carolina, learning as much of their songs, stories and guitar styles as he could. Mixing in his own wry humor and off-beat guitar technique, Roy started a successful performing career that has won him countless fans around the world.
On October 5, 2001 (his birthday), "The Book" played a sold-out concert at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the oldest and most prestigious festival of its kind in the world. Like a modern-day Mark Twain, with his abundant mustache and bespectacled, twinkling eyes peering out from under his broad-brimmed hat, Roy peppered his fingerpicking blues and ragtime songs with outrageously funny stories about his life and times and the people he met along the way. Homespun's cameras were there, and the result is a thoroughly engaging and entertaining performance video by one of America's most popular folk and blues artists. This is one you shouldn't miss!
"Twenty plus years of living full time in 'the bus' make for an interesting take on what's what and who's who. Enjoy the trip and have fun." -- Roy
Songs: "Rag Mama," "Candyman," "Delia," "CC&O Blues," "Mississippi Blues," "Let Us Get Together," "Keep A-Knockin'," "She Did You a Favor," "Electricity," "Anywhere You Go," "Travelin' Man Blues."
