Bukka White — Aberdeen, Mississippi

Bukka White — Booker T. Washington White — was born on November 12, 1906, in Houston, Mississippi, and grew up in Aberdeen in Monroe County. He was a cousin of B.B. King and one of the most powerful slide guitarists in the Delta blues tradition. His 1930 recordings for Victor and his 1937 Vocalion sessions produced some of the most intense, emotionally raw blues ever captured. He served time at Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) in 1937–38 on an assault conviction, and his recording sessions for Alan Lomax at Parchman — field recordings made while he was a prisoner — are among the most haunting documents of the era.

After his release from Parchman, White recorded a legendary session for Vocalion in 1940 that produced 'Shake 'Em On Down,' 'Aberdeen Mississippi Blues,' 'Fixin' to Die Blues,' and other masterpieces. He then disappeared from the music scene for nearly two decades, working in a Memphis tank factory, before being rediscovered in 1963 by researcher John Fahey and blues enthusiast Ed Denson, who tracked him down through letters. His late-career recordings and performances at folk festivals introduced him to a new generation.

Aberdeen has a Mississippi Blues Trail marker acknowledging Bukka White's formative years in the area. Monroe County is in northeast Mississippi, far from the Delta region more typically associated with the blues, reflecting the music's broader geographic roots in the state.