Lil’ Dave Thompson has died in a car accident on the road

Scott Barretta reports the death of Leland blues musician Dave Thompson in an automobile accident in South Carolina:

I received the terrible news today that Delta blues guitarist and vocalist Lil’ Dave Thompson died early this morning in an automobile wreck. According to a news report, he died in Aiken County, SC when the van in which he was traveling lost control on I-20 around 6am.

Lil’ Dave was one of the most talented of the younger blues artists in Mississippi. His father was a bluesman, and as a teenager he began working with Greenville’s Roosevelt “Booba” Barnes. He recorded his first CD for the Fat Possum label when he was in his ’20s, and I recall seeing him on one of their early Fat Possum Caravan tours along with R.L. Burnside. For the last decade Dave spent most of his time out on the road, both across the nation and abroad. Looking over his schedule at his website, it appears as though he played over 200 dates a year, and he was scheduled to tour for a week in Romania next week.

As a result we didn’t see him here in MS too often, though he did seem to keep a busy schedule when he was at home. He was a regular performer at the annual Highway 61 Blues Festival in Leland as well as at informal event in Holly Ridge the following day. I always enjoyed talking to Dave about his travels, and had fully expected that he would have been an integral part of the Delta scene for decades to come.

Here’s some biographical information from his website:

David Lonzo Thompson was born in Hinds County, Mississippi May 21, 1969. Lil Dave’s exposure to music came early and has always been a way of life. His father, the late Sam Thompson played with Willie Foster, Asie Payton, Paul Wine Jones, Eddie Cusic, James Son Thomas and others.

Lil Dave’s list of influences reads like an anthology of the blues. His family was burned out in legendary Moorhead, MS (Where the Yellow Dog Crosses the Southern) and moved to B.B. Kings hometown of Indianola, MS. But it was in Leland, MS, (Hellhole of the Delta) and home of James “Son” Thomas and other blues legends that Dave, at the age of 14, formed his first band. He, along with drummer, Dell Cusic and bass player, Allen Hite called themselves The Delta Blues Band. As a teenager, Dave played with various blues, Rand B, Reggae, and gospel bands in the delta area until he met and toured with the late Booba Barnes in 1990. …

A third or fourth generation Mississippi delta blues guitarist and vocalist, Thompson has come full circle with the blues. He has lived it, learned it and now seems to appreciate the rich legacy and his responsibility to the blues, this region and his fellow blues artists, past, present and future.Mississippi guitarist/vocalist Dave Thompson returns to recording with a bang after a six-year hiatus. In 1996 he burst onto the scene with his Fat Possum debut, then quickly disappeared. Now he’s re-emerged with a 14 song slab of modern, original soul-blues that are remarkable mature for a player under 35. His visceral, unvarnished music exude swagger, and there’s plenty of variety: shuffles, slow blues, junk, Southern strollers, and even a light jazz instrumental.

Here’s some video of him from 2008.