01/04/2025
Jerry Porter(who released the first recording on Mirror Records) mentioned in Spider John Koerner article.
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2024/05/29/john-koerner-obituary-rochester-ny-native-and-music-icon/73897254007/
Blues, folk icon, and Rochester native "Spider" John Koerner passed away at 85. The New York Times reports that he succumbed to cancer at his Minneapolis home on May 18.
Koerner was born in Rochester in 1938 and lived in West Irondequoit until he left for college at the University of Minnesota, where, according to a press release from House of Guitars, he inspired a young Bob Dylan.
Koerner and Dylan lived together for a brief time and played together as a duo.
In Minnesota, Koerner formed Koerner, Ray & Glover on Elektra Records, whose album, "Blues, Rags & Hollers," was listed in a 2003 Vanity Fair article noting David Bowies top 25 favorite albums, according to the New York Times.
In 2012, the trio was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and won the Minnesota Music Awards Folk Group category in 2000 and 2001.
Koerner also played at the legendary Newport Folk Festival and had many solo albums considered psych blues classics.
Growing up in Rochester, Koerner reportedly lived across the street from local blues guitarist and singer Jerry Porter, who released the album "Don't Bother Me!" on Mirror Records in 1966.
Koerner significantly influenced Porter, who had a successful career in the area, playing with blues legend Son House and performing several times at the University of Rochester.
"Spider John Koerner is an American national treasure, a genuine folk blues hero," Folk musician, broadcaster, and magazine editor Ian A. Anderson said. "Bizarrely, most of his fellow countrypersons remain blissfully unaware of this, in spite of his being one of the key figures of the 1960s folk boom".
Koerner has become known as one of the greats in folk and traditional music and has been said to have inspired generations of musicians. He is survived by his two sons, daughter, and five grandkids.
— Madison Scott
John Koerner was born in Rochester in 1938 and lived in West Irondequoit until he left for college at the University of Minnesota, where he inspired a young Bob Dylan.
