"A masterful multi-instrumentalist and captivating storyteller, Jerron Paxton brings traditional acoustic blues vividly to life. Moving seamlessly between blues, folk, ragtime and early jazz, his performances are rich in history, humour and heart. ... With a joyful spirit, a superb voice and an easy rapport with audiences, this American bluesman is a true audience favourite." -- Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival

2026 September 19 - Saturday - 7:30 PM
Capitol Theater (Resurrection Church)
123 Summers St, Charleston WV

Jerron Paxton is widely celebrated for his uncanny ability to transform and revive pre-World War II traditional Black American folk music. His mastery spans early acoustic blues, ragtime, stride piano jazz, hokum, and Appalachian mountain music. Critics often praise him as one of the few musicians of his generation to fully assimilate the musical styles of 1920s and 1930s icons like Fats Waller, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and Mississippi John Hurt.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Jerron Paxton would sit with an ear by the radio, eagerly absorbing the nuances and history of Black American traditional music that connect him to his ancestral roots in the South. A songwriter, inheritor of tradition, and a walking, talking jukebox, Paxton approaches his craft with equal part wit and reverence, with a knack for leg-pulling and cracking wise.

His latest album, Things Done Changed is an album of original songs that sound beamed in from nearly a century ago, when jazz and blues were performed as a means of both personal and cultural survival. Lick by lick, Paxton builds a bridge between generations gone and generations to come, singing the heartaches and joys of the past and present.

“Things Done Changed is my way of honoring the culture I come from,” says Paxton. “I grew up playing for the last generation of folks who grew up listening to Black banjo players ... Born from the lives of the people who raised me, I hope these songs resonate with listeners as a continuation of our shared history.”

Meet Jerron Paxton, a modern day songster, minstrel and bluesman - Acoustic Roots & Country Blues