In 1931, Robert Lowery was born in Shula, Arkansas, near the Louisana border. His dad was a blues musician and gave him his first guitar. His earliest influences were his father, as well as Sam Hopkins and Son Jackson. Though he has called California home since 1956, his Delta heritage still shows in his unpretentious ability to duplicate the sound of Robert Johnson. This is something he does naturally rather than by effort. Bob plays a custom made steel guitar with a single cone National resonator. It has a sound as unique and appropriate for the blues as his inimitable playing style. A lifetime of playing has taken him all over the world, and aquainted him with the better known blues statesmen of the world. In the late 50's Robert Lowery played with Big Mama Thorton, author of Elvis Presley's hit song Hound Dog. Some of the people he has shared the stage with include: Taj Mahal, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Rogers, Honey Boy Edwards, and Gatemouth Brown. He performed at President Clinton's first inauguration, and was featured in a national TV ad for MCI. Bob had been playing at a local coffee shop in Santa Cruz for nearly a year. The police made him stop playing in the coffee shop. So he moved about 12' out onto the street where the local regulations don't yet prohibit live music without a license. The title track from his new release "Playing Out in the Street", tells the story Bob's way. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; a