Sylvester Weaver

Sylvester Weaver (July 25, 1897 – April 4, 1960) was an American blues guitar player and a pioneer of country blues. He was the son of Walter and Mattie (nee Embers or Embry) Weaver. Walter Weaver's 1952 Kentucky death certificate indicates that he was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi. That area's economy was heavily agricultural, relying on African American labor to produce a profitable cotton crop. After Walter Weaver migrated to Louisville, Kentucky, Port Gibson would play a role in the preservation and dissemination of a blues tradition indigenous to the Mississippi Delta. This tradition, in the form in which Walter Weaver experienced it, likely was a foundation upon which Sylvester Weaver built his unique performance style.