Blind since birth, Texas-born Lemon Jefferson learned guitar as a child and soon was traveling around the state performing on street corners and developing a distinctive guitar style to match his unusual voice. By the ‘20s he was a successful recording artist for Paramount Records. In fact, he was one of the few blues musicians of the era to make good money. A pioneer of the country blues sound, Jefferson—who died in 1929—became known as the “Father of Texas Blues” and inspired everyone from Carl Perkins to Bob Dylan.