Blues Deejays Mississippi Blues Trail Site

Radio disc jockeys played a major role in the spread of the Blues, boosting the careers of local artists, introducing listeners to performers from across the country, and more generally serving as a voice for the community.  Early African-American deejays in Mississippi included Early Wright, Bruce Payne, Charles Evers, Ike Turner, Sherman "Blues" Johnson, Jobie Martin, and Ruben Hughes, who began deejaying in Forest in 1957 at age sixteen and became the owner-operator of Greenwood's WGNL in 1988.