Sid Hemphill

Sid Hemphill (1876 – 1963) was an American blues multi-instrumentalist and bandleader who played in his own string band mainly in Mississippi. He recorded for Alan Lomax in 1942 and again in 1959.

Born in Panola County, Mississippi, Hemphill was the son of a slave fiddle player, crafted instruments, and was a blind musician. Trained as a multi-instrumentalist, he could effectively play fiddle, banjo, guitar, jaw harp, piano, organ, quills, and the cane fife, while also penning songs. Hemphill and his string band, composed of Alex "Turpentine" Askew (guitar), Lucious Smith (banjo), and Will Head (bass drum), played a combination of old time, blues, popular music, and spirituals for both black and white audiences mainly in Northern Mississippi. According to blues writer Edward Komara, Hemphill's quill playing was highly syncopated and offered the closest connection to traditional African music. On August 15, 1942, Lomax recorded 22 songs and an interview with Hemphill and his group. Lomax recorded a second session with Hemphill when he revisited him in 1959. Music critic Amanda Petrusich noted in a review for Pitchfork that "Hemphill's work incorporates attributes of the Mississippi Hill Country’s better-known traditions (the droning guitar blues mastered by McDowell, R.L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough, and the fife-and-drum music practiced by Otha Turner, Napoleon Strickland, and Hemphill himself)", which differs from the neighboring Delta blues.