David "Honey Boy" Edwards, the oldest surviving Delta bluesman whose roots stretched back to blues legend Robert Johnson, died early Monday, August 29, 2011 from heart failure in his Chicago home. Honeyboy was 96.

I had the privilege of meeting Edwards several years ago at Merlefest. It was a chance meeting for sure. I was running from one stage to the other and had just spoke with Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady. As I approached the side of the Doc Watson stage I saw him sitting, holding his guitar and talking with his friend and fellow bluesman Roy Bookbinder. I spoke with Roy first, thanking him for personally placing a concrete marker on the otherwise unmarked grave of Carolina blues legend Pink Anderson. Roy introduced me to Honeyboy. Of course, as a real music fan, I already knew all about Edwards. I felt like I was meeting royalty. And I was. He was super nice, and later that afternoon, he played a set that just blew me away.

Honeyboy was born in 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. His father bought a guitar for $8 from a sharecropper and Edwards learned to play in 1929 and started playing professionally at age 17 in Memphis.

In 1945 he moved to Chicago and played on Maxwell Street in small clubs and on street corners. By the 1950s Edwards had played with almost every bluesman of note - including Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Charlie Patton and Muddy Waters. Among Edwards' hit songs were "Long Tall Woman Blues," "Gamblin Man" and "Just Like Jesse James."

Edwards won a 2008 Grammy for traditional blues album and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2010. His death represents the loss of the last direct link to the first generation of Mississippi blues musicians.

Edwards was known for being an oral historian of the blues and would tell biographical stories between songs at his shows, Frank said. He was recorded for the Library of Congress in Clarksdale, Miss., in 1942.

Edwards earned his nickname "Honey Boy" from his sister, who told his mother to "look at honey boy" when Edwards stumbled as he learned to walk as a toddler. He is survived by his daughter Betty Washington and stepdaughter Dolly McGinister.

We will all miss Honeyboy. The last man standing as far as Delta Blues beginnings go. One of a kind. One of my true heroes.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Hi Tribesters. Time once again for Buffalo’s Top Ten. Remember the rules - there are no rules. These are the ten tracks from past and present, any genre, that are rocking my world this week. What do you think?

1. Shine  Randy Joe Galloway
2. Bound for Glory  Tedeschi Trucks
3. Stuck in a Moment  U2
4. No Bad News Today  Back Porch Mary
5. Brownsville Girl  Bob Dylan
6. Everything Here (Live) Cowboy
7. Southbound  Pure Grain
8, Georgia Moon   Chris Hicks
9. I Wonder What God’s Thinking  The Roys
10. Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday  Warren Haynes

-Buffalo

Greetings from Spartanburg, South Carolina! We are very happy to present our new online issue of UNIVERSAL MUSIC TRIBE for August, featuring three new interviews, new articles and reviews.

One of the hottest bands touring this summer is The Tedeschi Trucks Band, and we are happy to present an exclusive interview with Susan Tedeschi herself, one of rock's finest vocalists and guitar players. Susan tells us all about the new band with her husband Derek Trucks and much more. We were thrilled to attend the band's concert last week at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, and we have a review with some really killer photos from the show.

Chuck Leavell is musical director for The Rolling Stones, a former member of The Allman Brothers Band, a conservationist, and author and most recently, a screen actor. Read our new interview with Chuck.

Eerie Von was the bassist for the gothic punk metal band Danzig, as well as a professional photographer. He now ads visual artist/painter to his resume, along with "country singer." I'll give you Misfits fans a minute to wrap your heads around that one. UMT had a blast talking with this true rock and roll icon. Oh yeah, we wrote a review of his awesome book of photography as well.

Read an account of my "Happy Birthday," trip to the set of Billy Bob Thornton's new movie Jane Mansfield's car, and read a review of Boxmasters drummer Bubba Bruce's hilarious southern fiction novel  Show Bidness.

Be sure to read about our new non profit organization Hearts of the South. While it is still in its infancy, we have big plans to help a lot of people in the future, especially musicians.

All of that plus new CD reviews, spotlight videos and much more. Remember, we are always adding new material, so please visit us on a regular basis. And feel free to drop us an email with any questions, suggestions, or random chat.

Keep it Real.  Buffalo