About the Author

Phil Wiggins is a blues musician, teacher, artistic director, and recipient of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship (2017), the highest honor the United States bestows on the Traditional Arts. He is a two-time winner of the prestigious WC Handy Blues Foundation Award, in 1984 for Best Traditional Album of the Year and in 1987 as Entertainer of the Year.

Frank Matheis is a contributing writer for Living Blues magazine and publisher of thecountryblues.com. As a former radio DJ with WKZE and WVKR, he has produced award-winning radio documentaries.

Reviews

Blues scholarship has been slowly evolving in the past two decades, and Sweet Bitter Blues, cowritten by Washington, DC blues harmonica player Phil Wiggins and White blues connoisseur Frank Matheis, is a welcome addition to the literature.--Ulrich Adelt, University of Wyoming "The Journal of African American History"

Sweet Bitter Blues by Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis is a great and thoughtful read. Reading this book gives me an even better appreciation for Phil's music. He's a true bluesman, and I recommend this book to EVERYBODY!--Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy Award-winning musician and elder statesman of the blues

It's nice to wander down the path our elders blazed before us. Sweet Bitter Blues is a quintessential read for any blues lover.--Jontavious Willis, Grammy-nominated blues musician

Phil Wiggins and Frank Matheis are great storytellers. I have known some of the Washington, DC acoustic blues illuminati that Sweet Bitter Blues talks about and others not at all. Phil's words are so personal and brutally, lovingly honest. Phil Wiggins has survived to tell the tale. This book is a treasure.--Guy Davis, Grammy-nominated blues musician

Rarely is the Piedmont region discussed with any seriousness concerning the blues. This is corrected once and for all by Sweet Bitter Blues: Washington, DC's Homemade Blues. This book is culturally priceless, and its history should be enshrined in every mention of the blues.--Bruce Conforth, professor of American culture, founding curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and coauthor of Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson

The highest compliment I can make of this book, besides how much I enjoyed reading it, is that I learned so much about the DC acoustic blues scene. It is also handsomely illustrated. Sweet Bitter Blues is an invaluable addition to the literature about the blues.--Ron Weinstock "Blues & Rhythm"