Albright Honored to Play in Hometown of Musical Hero
Bringing the Blues: A Musical Celebration of Blind Willie McTell
Who: Todd Albright
When: Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m.
Where: Historic Thomson Depot
Tickets: $35 reserved seats; $25 general admission. Available online at bit.ly/ToddAlbright
When Todd Albright walks in to the historic Thomson Depot in April, it will be more than just a concert. It’ll be a musical homecoming of sorts for the renowned guitarist. After all, the fingerprints of McDuffie native Blind Willie McTell are all over Albright’s music.
From his Fraulini 12-string guitar – inspired by McTell's Tonk Bros. guitar made by Regal sometime in the 1920's – to the name of his 2018 blues album, Albright is unabashedly a fan.
He traces a crucial point of the McTell legacy to 1959 – the same year the blues legend passed away. That year Sam Charters authored The Country Blues, a landmark look at the people and voices who created a music genre that spawned decades of later musicians. Accompanying the book was a compilation album released by Folkways that included McTell’s 1928 recording of “Statesboro Blues”.
“When the Folkways album was released, everybody in the folk/blues world took notice, and that song became a staple in every would-be folkie's repertoire,” Albright said. “The impact of this song was felt immediately, and that pretty much cemented McTell's place in the blues world.”
Albright is bringing the music of McTell to Thomson on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m., at the Historic Thomson Depot. Tickets are $35 for reserved seats and $25 for general admission. They are available online at bit.ly/ToddAlbright.
For the musician, hearing “Statesboro Blues” had an impact that is still felt today. Albright was struck by McTell’s “skill and dexterity,” especially on a 12-string guitar. It set a high musical bar.
“Of all the musicians that have covered the song, very few have attempted to record the song as Willie had written it, opting to perform their own version of the song,” he said. “For me, ‘Statesboro Blues’ is a piece of American classical music, and I have been trying to play the song as close to what Willie recorded as I can. I've been playing the song for a long time, and just when I think I've figured it out, I'll listen to Willie's record and quickly realize how much further I have to go.”
The April 21 show, presented by the Activities Council of Thomson, is a fundraiser for Thomson and McDuffie County’s efforts to raise money to build a life-size bronze statue of the legendary blues musician. A member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, McTell was born in McDuffie County in 1901 and is buried at Jones Grove Church in the Happy Valley community.
Officials estimate the statue could cost more than $100,000. As plans evolve for a new community park and music pavilion along Railroad Street near the city-county government center, they hope to identify the perfect spot to place the statue.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us to celebrate and commemorate McDuffie County’s contribution to the blues and to American music in general,” said Don Powers, the executive director of Forward McDuffie and one of the original organizers of the annual blues festival that bears McTell’s name. “Blind Willie McTell’s influence can be seen throughout various genres today, and his legacy lives on through the speakers, stages and sounds from various eras of music.”
Albright said it is an honor to help raise money for something dedicated to one his musical pillars.
“If ever you are lucky enough to even be mentioned in the same breath as one of your heroes ... it's a pretty good day,” Albright said. “And to be invited to Willie McTell's hometown to help raise funds for the creation of a statue is something I had to be a part of.”
McTell helped inspire Albright’s 2017 release, entitled Detroit Twelve String: Blues & Rags. The straightforward title is a direct throwback to McTell’s 1949 Atlanta Twelve String.
“It’s a complete and total rip-off, yes,” Albright told Acoustic Guitar magazine in 2018 with a laugh. “It is a blatant attempt to align myself with the great Blind Willie McTell.”
Hailing from Detroit, Albright cultivated his love for guitar from a young age, starting with a simple six-string from Sears. At 13, a gift from his sister changed his life and musical direction. The John Lee Hooker album inspired him to learn the chords and thoroughly explore the genre. This led him to the deeper, more complex sounds produced by the 12-string stylings of artists like McTell, George Carter, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly.
“It was quite a revelation,” he said. “I started playing 12-string full-time 10 years ago when I sold my 6-string. Before that, I just found myself reaching for the 6-string less and less. There's a lot of material that sounds great on a 6-string, but not on a 12-string and vise-versa. For me, it seems almost like a completely different instrument.”
Today, Albright’s music is entrenched in the pre-war era of the blues tradition (1880-1939), continuing the distinguished tradition of the very roots of American music and celebrating the African American musicians who created it.
“Well, my intent was never to be an educator really,” he said. “It's just that with the history of these songs and the people that made them is so fantastic, I just had to share it with whoever would listen! The hope is always that there will be some kid in the audience that will hear what I'm trying to do and get the bug. To keep any tradition alive, it has to be passed down.”
It’s not Albright’s first trip to Thomson. He took the stage at the 2021 Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival, playing some of the songs of the event’s namesake as well as others.