Bill Barth
December 13, 1942 – July 14, 2000
Photo by Tim Kendall
Bill Barth was a festival planner and blues guitarist who is perhaps best remembered for being with John Fahey and Henry Vestine when the found early blues great, Skip James in a Mississippi hospital and relaunched his career in 1964. As a musician, Barth helped form blues rock band, The Insect Trust who were likened to Jefferson Airplane and Fairport Convention. The band, which also included Elvin Jones and future rock critic, Robert Palmer, released two albums. During the mid ’60s, Barth founded the Memphis Valley Blues Society which produced five festivals during the late ’60s and featured the likes of Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Sleepy John Estes. Bill Barth was 57 when he passed away on July 14, 2000.