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| Famous blues piano player, Otis Spann was buried in an unmarked grave near Chicago after he died April 24, 1970. Thanks to Steven Salter, and his Killer Blues Headstone Project, Spann now has a gravestone. (Photo: Courtesy Steven Salter via WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.) |
WHITEHALL, Mich. — What started out as a simple passion for a
Michigan man ended up evolving into a pilgrimage as his love for the
blues is making sure some of the country's greatest musicians will never be forgotten.
Many blues artists died before any of their music earned
any money, which means several of the nation’s greatest blues artists
are buried in small towns and cow pastures in unmarked graves.
To Steven Salter, of Whitehall, Mich., that’s grossly
unacceptable. He has spent the better part of the last 20 years
providing headstones for blues artists, thanks to a niche non-profit
organization he and four others created called “Killer Blues Headstone
Project.”
