James Segrest
19 Quail Crossing
Tallassee, AL 36078
Phone: (334) 991-4028

James Segrest has an M. A. in history from Auburn University and has completed all the course work needed for a Ph. D. in history at the University of South Carolina. He has written liner notes for CDs such as the Grammy-nominated A Tribute to Howlin’ Wolf for the Telarc label and has also written for Blues Access magazine. In addition, he has given public presentations about Howlin’ Wolf at many blues festivals and assisted on a soon-to-be-released documentary about bluesman Robert Lockwood, Jr., the stepson of Robert Johnson. A native Southerner, James brings to the Howlin’ Wolf project the perspective of a trained historian who is familiar with the environment in which Wolf grew up. He has lived in the Mississippi Delta, where Wolf’s formative musical training began, and has done extensive field research in Mississippi, Arkansas, Memphis, and Chicago for this project. His love for the blues dates back to the mid-1980s, and he has attended numerous blues festivals, clubs and jukes. Currently, he works as a substitute teacher for the Tallassee, Alabama School District.