Austin bluesman Hosea Hargrove died on Tuesday, confirmed his daughter Hosetter Irvin and Dialtone Records owner Eddie Stout. He was 88.
Hargrove was born on November 18, 1929, in the Crafts Prairie region of Bastrop County. For a place that barely existed even on local maps, Crafts Prairie produced pre-eminent bluesmen including local stop-time blues guitarist Sonny Chase, plus Grey Ghost, James Lee Williams, Funny Papa Smith, and Sunny Bo Williams. Raised by his aunt May and uncle Hosea, for whom he was named, Hargrove learned basics of guitar from his father and Chase. He constructed his first “guitar” with a cigar box and screen wire.
Hargrove became one of Texas’ great live blues acts. A straightforward player in the blues tradition, he played with measured restraint and compelling simplicity. Though few recordings of Hargrove’s music exist, most notably 2010’s Tex Golden Nugget for Stout’s Dialtone imprint, his effect on the Austin music scene reverberates in his wide influence.
Inducted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, Hargrove employed a guttural, rootsy style of blues around Austin for nearly 60 years, thoroughly studied by Bill Campbell and the Vaughans, Jimmie and the late Stevie Ray.
This article appears in August 31 • 2018.
