George “Buddy” Guy was born on July 30, 1936, in Lettsworth, Louisiana. Guy started playing music on a diddley bow, a small stringed instrument that he made himself using wire, a piece of wood, and his mother’s hairpins. His parents were sharecroppers, and though they had little money, Guy’s father bought a guitar from another fieldhand so he could keep learning. As a teenager, Guy began performing in Baton Rouge, then moved to Chicago at the age of 21. He befriended other musicians who had come to Chicago from the south…
