Corey

Corey Harris (born February 21, 1969) is an American blues and reggae musician, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader renowned for reviving traditional Delta blues while fusing it with global influences from West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian traditions. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also serves on the faculty of the University of Virginia's music department, Harris has released over 20 albums and collaborated with luminaries such as B.B. King, Taj Mahal, and Ali Farka Touré. His work balances deep respect for historical blues roots with innovative experimentation, earning him widespread acclaim as a bridge between past and present in the genre. Born in Denver, Colorado, to parents from Texasand Kentucky, Harris discovered music early, receiving a toy guitar at age three and later playing trumpet and tuba in school bands while singing in church choirs. At age 12, he began guitar lessons, profoundly influenced by his mother's collection of Lightnin' Hopkins records, which sparked his lifelong passion for acoustic blues. He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, graduating in 1991 with high honors in anthropology, and subsequently received a prestigious Watson Fellowship to study pidgin English and local music in Cameroon, West Africa—an experience that deepened his appreciation for African rhythmic traditions and juju music. Following his time abroad, Harris relocated to rural Louisiana, where he taught English and French in Napoleonville while honing his craft as a street performer in New Orleans, immersing himself in the city's vibrant musical scene. His professional breakthrough came with the 1995 debut album Between Midnight and Day on Alligator Records, a collection of traditional Delta blues covers that showcased his raw, powerful singing and masterful slide guitar technique, garnering international attention. He followed with acclaimed releases such as Fish Ain’t Bitin’ (1997), which won the W.C. Handy Award for Best Acoustic Blues Album, and Greens from the Garden(1999), blending blues with reggae and soul elements. Harris's career expanded through ethnographic travels to Mali and Guinea, informing albums like Mississippi to Mali (2003), which explored transatlantic connections between blues and West African music, and collaborations including the duet Vu-Du Menz (2000) with pianist Henry Butler and contributions to the Grammy-nominated Mermaid Avenue project with Billy Bragg and Wilco. In 2003, he starred as both performer and narrator in Martin Scorsese's PBS documentary The Blues: Feel Like Going Home, tracing blues origins from Mississippi to Africa alongside Ali Farka Touré. His innovative approach included the 2007 MacArthur Fellowship, often called a "genius grant," recognizing his role in leading a contemporary revival of country blues with modern sensibilities; that same year, Bates College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music. In April of 2026 he successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Virginia, earning a doctorate in musicology. Harris has continued to release albums, including Insurrection Blues (2021), Chicken Man (2024), and Fight On! (2026), while maintaining an active touring and teaching schedule. 

I’m a musicologist, historian, writer, singer, composer, blues guitarist and recording artist. I began my professional life playing acoustic blues on the streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter, and over the years I’ve released more than 20 albums, appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Feel Like Going Home, and was named a 2007 MacArthur Fellow.

These lessons are for intermediate to advanced players—not beginners. They’re for people who already have the instrument under their hands and want to go deeper: into blues, slide, fingerstyle, and the roots of American music.

I believe you learn best by doing. When I played on the street, I had to pay close attention to each person who stopped to listen—their mood, how they carried themselves—to find the right song for them. I teach the same way. I value connecting with each student first, observing how you play and where you want to grow, and shaping our work around that rather than a fixed curriculum.

We’ll spend our time on real music and real technique, but I also want you to understand the history and feeling behind what you’re playing—where it comes from, and why it sounds the way it does. Through close attention, we sharpen perception, and that’s what deepens expression.