Lew Jetton (born 1959, Humboldt, Tennessee, United States) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist and singer, who also spent many years as a meteorologist and local television personality. He was born in Humboldt and raised near Trenton, Tennessee.

Career

After graduation from college at Middle Tennessee State University in 1981, he worked in radio at WIRJ (AM)/WZDQ-FM in Humboldt, Tennessee from 1982 to 1983, moving to television as a weathercaster/news reporter at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee. He also spent a short stint as a sports anchor at WBBJ, before moving to WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky in 1989 as weekend news anchor/meteorologist. Jetton is a second cousin of the late Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist

Nat Caldwell Nathan Green Caldwell (July 16, 1912 – February 11, 1985) was an American journalist who spent fifty years on the staff of the ''Nashville Tennessean''. He was a co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1962. Early life and ...

of the Nashville Tennessean. Jetton left local television in 2007 to concentrate on music.

Music

In 1994, while still working in local TV, he began playing guitar with the blues band, 61 South, based in Paducah, Kentucky, which featured, among others, Col. J.D. Wilkes, of

Th' Legendary Shack Shakers The Legendary Shack Shakers (originally Those or Th' ) are an American rock band from Murray, Kentucky that was formed in 1995 by J.D. Wilkes. The original line-up formed the band out of a shared interest in rockabilly, blues and Western swing. ...

and

The Dirt Daubers JD Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers are an American roots music band. The frontman for the band is JD Wilkes of the Legendary Shack Shakers. History The group formed in Paducah, Kentucky in 2009. Their self-titled debut album was released on Octo ...

. Upon the departure of "Fast" Layne Hendrickson, the lead singer of the band, Jetton was recruited to become the frontman of the band, while mentored by his friend Snooky Pryor in nearby

Ullin, Illinois Ullin is a village in Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. The population was 463 at the 2010 census. History Ullin was established as a site along the Illinois Central Railroad in the mid-1850s. Some sources suggest it was named for a Gael ...

. Working and touring as a regional band in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and

Mid-South Mid-South may refer to: * Mid-South (region), a region of the United States including portions of Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Missouri * East South Central States, a region of the United States * Memphis metropolitan area, Tennessee, U ...

, Lew Jetton & 61 South shared billings with blues musicians including Luther Allison, Mike Zito, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Chuck Berry, and Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials. Lew Jetton & 61 South has released four albums: ''State Line Blues'' (2000), ''Tales From A 2 Lane'' (2006), ''Rain'' (2016) and ''Palestine Blues'' (2017). ''State Line Blues'' was the fourth best Independent Blues Release in the United States by ''

Real Blues ''St Germain'' is the fourth studio album by French house producer Ludovic Navarre, under his main pseudonym St Germain. It was released on 9 October 2015 via Primary Society. Two official singles had been released from the album: "Real Blues" ...

'' Magazine. ''Tales From A 2 Lane'' was selected as the Blues Album of the Year by the Kentucky Blues Society, a "Pick to Click" by XM Satellite Radio

Bluesville B.B. King's Bluesville is a Sirius XM Radio channel devoted to blues music. It plays a mix of traditional blues, modern blues, rockin' blues and soul or "finger-poppin blues. Bill Wax was the original Program Director for the channel until hi ...

(Channel 74), which kept Jetton originals "Waffle House Woman" and "I Been Cheated" on their hot playlist throughout most of 2006. ''Tales From A 2 Lane'' was also selected one of the top Independent Blues Releases by ''Real Blues'' Magazine. In 2007, the band re-released 2000's ''State Line Blues'', which was also picked up as a "Pick to Click" on XM's Bluesville, with "Gettin' Colder," "State Line Blues" and "Homegrown Tomato" receiving the most airplay. In 2016, Jetton signed with Coffee Street Records, a small label based in Kentucky and began work on his third album. The result of which was ''Rain'', the first new music from Jetton in 10 years. ''Rain'' debuted on Roots Music Report's Contemporary Blues Album chart at number 15 in the world only two weeks after its release. Lew Jetton & 61 South continue playing festivals and clubs and touring extensively in the Midwest, Mid-South and occasionally venturing to other regions.

Discography

*''State Line Blues'' (2000) Independent (Brooks Chapel Music) *''Tales From A 2 Lane'' (2006) Independent (Brooks Chapel Music) *''Rain'' (2016) Coffee Street Records (Brooks Chapel Music) *''Palestine Blues'' (2017) Coffee Street Records (Brooks Chapel Music)

References

External links

Lew Jetton and 61 South official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jetton, Lew 1959 births Living people American television meteorologists American television news anchors American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers People from Humboldt, Tennessee Musicians from Paducah, Kentucky Middle Tennessee State University alumni Singers from Kentucky Blues musicians from Kentucky Guitarists from Kentucky 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians