Cootie Stark (1926-2005) was the King of the Piedmont blues. He learned his songs at the feet of the originators of Piedmont Blues Baby Tate, Pink Anderson, Walter Phelps, Peg Leg Sam and Blind Sammy Doolie. Cootie Stark has a repertoire of 100's of Blues and Gospel songs, making him one of the last direct links to a South long gone. Cootie Stark was born as Johnny Miller on December 9, 1926, in Abbeville, SC and passed away on April 14, 2005, in his home in Greenville, SC. He received his first guitar when he was 14 years old. While still a teenager, Stark moved to nearby Greenville, SC, where, unable to find work because of extremely poor eyesight (he eventually went blind), he began singing and playing guitar on the street corners in the late '30s, learning the busking trade (and a large repertoire of songs)acquiring the nickname "Sugar Man." He wasn't discovered by the outside world until he was in his seventies, when Music Maker Foundation founder Tim Duffy happened to hear Stark perform some Fats Domino songs. Music Maker released his first album, Sugar Man, in 1999, and a second release, Raw Sugar, which featured accompaniment by Taj Mahal, followed in 2003. Cootie Stark passed away from prostate cancer on April 14th, 2005.

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