10-Year-Old Blind Boy Plays Robert Johnson-Style Acoustic Blues — Video
The viral video below shows a 10-year-old blind boy, Felix St. Hilare of Quebec, Canada, performing a bit of Robert Johnson-style Delta blues on acoustic guitar, which he plays flat on his lap, much like the late Jeff Healey.
Felix, who speaks French, has the coolest pajamas and clearly knows his way around a blues turnaround. He even does a fine job singing in English, capturing the feel of an "ooooooh-ing" Johnson in a few choice spots.
Felix was born blind, a result of his premature birth. His mother, Marie-Eve Soucy, said her son was always fascinated by music and used to play with tam-tams in his high chair as a baby.
For more information about Felix, check out this CTVnews.ca story.
Be sure to enjoy this brief open-tuned masterpiece!
The top video embed code below is from Cifras' post on Facebook. We hope it works for you! If it doesn't, and you merely see the word "Post," click on that; it will take you to the video.
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Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
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