John
"Bowling Green" Cephas, the legendary Piedmont blues guitarist and
baritone vocalist who was recently honored as a 2009 Library of
Virginia African American Trailblazer, died Wednesday morning at home
in Woodford in Caroline County.

The much-honored and widely traveled 78-year-old Washington native,
who recently retired because of illness, had been unable to attend the
library awards ceremony last week. He was breathing with the aid of
oxygen in recorded remarks to the audience that said how touched he was
by the honor.

Born into a deeply religious family, he took his nickname from the
Virginia town of Bowling Green, where he was reared hearing gospel
music. He grew up listening to his grandfather's stories of slave
ancestors on the Eastern Shore and his mother's singing. He learned
about the blues from a guitar.jpgcking aunt. "Blues music is truth," Mr.
Cephas once said.

By Ellen Robertson

Read the whole article on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.