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Wlaf1450TOP PHOTO: Ralphe Armstrong does the honors.
LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF)- Tuesday at 11 am, at Freeman Park in LaFollette, a Tennessee Music Pathways Historical Marker was placed in honor of Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong. WLAF’s Charlie Hutson shares his photo gallery from yesterday morning with us HERE.
The marker links with hundreds across the state that connect people with places documented as cradles of blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, soul, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll music genres, and stamps this community as an important location of a musical legend influenced and shaped by Tennessee.
Armstrong performed blues, country, spirituals/gospels, jigs and reels, polkas, rags, Hawaiian songs, Tin Pan Alley, hokum, ragtime and more.
Self-taught, Armstrong mastered multiple stringed instruments, spoke seven foreign languages, and was a producer of visual art, all of which he often said were shaped by the culture of LaFollette, Jellico, and coal mining camps of Campbell County when he was a youth in the 1920s.
The non-profit Campbell Culture Coalition is the producer of The Louie Bluie Music & Arts Festival honoring Mr. Armstrong. The 15th festival held on Sept. 24 at Cove Lake State Park, Caryville. The event was attended by an estimated 8,000 persons. The organization believes Armstrong’s achievements are an outstanding example of striving for personal achievement against great odds; homage and love of home and roots; pursuit of the richness of art and music; and bringing joy to the audience around us. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 10/19/2022- 6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)
A rich and rewarding day for all of Campbell County! Wonderful community support for the ‘Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival and the state ‘marker’ honoring Howard ‘Louie Bluie’ Armstrong will be a constant reminder of overcoming obstacles and striving forward.