Classic Performances from the 1989 Festival of Michigan Folklife: Howard Armstrong and Ted Bogan

African American String Band Musicians Howard Armstrong (1909-2003) and Ted Bogan (1910-1990)

The one-and-only Howard Armstrong made several memorable appearances at folklife festivals produced by the Michigan State University Museum, beginning with the 1988 Festival of Michigan Folklife and ending in 2002 with its successor, the Great Lakes Folk Festival. None were more memorable than when he performed with his long-time friend, guitarist and South Carolina native, Ted Bogan. Armstrong and Bogan first met during the early 1930s in Armstrong’s home state of Tennessee. With fellow musician Carl Martin, they joined the Great Migration, ending up in Chicago where they worked as street musicians, made recordings, and―according to Howard—played for Al Capone! During this time, they made several trips into Michigan to play at juke joints and restaurants. Armstrong did not settle in Michigan until after World War II, when he took an assembly line job in Detroit’s auto industry in order to support his family. He retired from Chrysler in 1971. The following year, with interest in older forms of African American music on the rise, Armstrong reunited with his old friends Bogan and Martin, touring as the “last of the black string bands.” They played throughout the U.S. and internationally until Martin’s death in 1979. Bogan and Armstrong continued as a duo until Bogan’s death in 1990. Among the many awards and recognitions Armstrong received during his long and colorful life were a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1990) and a Michigan Heritage Award from the Michigan State University Museum (1989).

The following video excerpts come from the 1989 Festival of Michigan Folklife and were filmed by Gary McCuaig. The first shows Howard Armstrong singing an old hymn learned from his mother, “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me,” while accompanying himself on fiddle. The performance captures Howard’s inimitable stage personality and the conflict between church and fiddle (what his mother called the “devil’s box”). The second excerpt features Bogan and Armstrong playing a blues medley, with the two men trading solos.