ANSON FUNDERBURGH

White Blues guitarists like Anson’s fellow Texans Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan made the point that you don’t have to be Black to play the Blues, which was a moot point among music critics back in the day. Listening to classic Blues records and seeing Freddie King, Jimmy Reed and Albert Collins playing in Dallas clubs, Anson developed a strong, attacking style of Blues guitar. He started out playing guitar in the local ‘push clubs’ of North Texas, and then formed The Rockets in the late 70s with harp player Darrell Nulisch, and their debut for Black Top Records in 1981 was the label’s first record. Good sales helped to get the company established, and relentless gigging got the band a big regional following. Darrell left, and was replaced in 1986 by Sam Myers, a Delta harp veteran who had played with Elmore James and spent a long time on the Chicago club scene.

Their album ‘Sins’ won a Handy Award in 1988 and they were also voted Best Band, propelled by Sam’s authentic vocals and some original songs. The Rockets gigged all over the States, Europe and the world and recorded another six albums before they lost Sam Myers to throat cancer in 2006. Anson’s 2011 ‘Mill Block Blues’ album, which he also produced, is a benefit for the Blues Foundation’s HART fund, which provides health care for old Blues players.

Anson and Sam with The Rockets;