Piedmont Country Blues is a finger style guitar blues with the thumb alternating on the bass strings and the fingers (varying in number depending on the player) plucking out the melody. Etta Baker from North Carolina was one of the most beloved players of Country Blues.
Among her many well known tunes, Railroad Bill is one of the best known and most recognized. This tune was played by the late Ms. Baker as an instrumental; however there are lyrics that speak to the actions of an African American train-robbing desperado. Apparently Railroad Bill was done wrong by a train company and he sought revenge by waylaying trains and robbing them until he met his unfortunate end.
Railroad Bill seems deceptively simple on the chart, but it’s not… getting the phrasing correct is an ongoing challenge; however, I am getting pretty close. Here below is my current rendering of the tune.
You’ll note that unlike most Piedmont Blues players, I am playing electric guitar (Taylor T3 Custom) through a variety of tone pedals giving it a bit of a haunting sensibility.