Date(s): April 18, 2026
Type of Show: Concert
Showtime(s): 7:30PM
Tickets: $25.00 + tax/fee
Lightnin' Wells is an American Piedmont blues multi-
instrumentalist and singer. He regularly performs as a solo music act accompanying his vocals with guitar, harmonica, banjo, ukulele and mandolin. His musical style encompasses elements of blues, country, gospel, old-time, bluegrass, ragtime, early jazz, and folk. Noted musician and radio personality Paul Brown described Lightnin' Wells' as “an enigma and a wonder. When you hear him, you hear the old Piedmont blues players speaking through him… More than anything, you hear something that's sincere and real,in a way that precious little music performance is nowadays. There’s no varnish here, just the unvarnished truth expressed through a deep and good-humored soul.”
Wells has released six solo albums. He contributed a chapter on the Recording Industry in North Carolina to the 2006 Encyclopedia of North Carolina, As an expert on North Carolina music, Wells has also researched the history of musical recordings and produced compilation projects on North Carolina’s Colonial Records, Chapel Hill; Renown Records, Durham; Oak Records, Elm City.
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Wells was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States in 1952. His family relocated to Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1962. While there Wells discovered and gained a life-long interest in Piedmont blues and old-time music. Wells began playing harmonica in the third grade and by the age of thirteen was the vocalist in a teenage band. By the late 1960s, Wells had taught himself to play the guitar and gradually developed an interest in the roots of American music.
Wells started performing professionally in the Chapel Hill area in the early 1970s. While he was a UNC student, he was captivated by public performances of Piedmont blues musicians (Guitar Shorty, Peg-Leg Sam, Henry Johnson, and Willie Trice) arranged by British doctoral student in folklore, Bruce Bastin.
In April 1973, Wells experienced a life altering event on the UNC campus, when Bastin presented possibly the first blues festival in the South. Bastin’s presentations greatly influenced the direction and development of Wells’ future musical career. Rather than concentrating on songwriting, Wells chose to instead become a repository of American song. His journey has left him with hundreds of old songs, which he continues to refine for musical presentation.
As part of his ongoing musical education, Wells sought out still living Piedmont performers, which led him later to produce work by Big Boy Henry, Algia Mae Hinton and George Higgs.
In March-May 1987 Wells arranged and performed the original score of traditional blues For Sam Shepard's “A Lie Of The Mind,”
at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, IL. Recordings
In 1995, Wells made his own debut solo recording, Bull Frog Blues, which was followed by Ragtime Millionaire in 1998; both released on New Moon Records.[6]. In 2002 Wells released his next album on Music Maker label,[10] Ragged But Right, which included guest appearances by Cool John Ferguson on guitar and Taj Mahal on bass. Shake 'Em on Down (2008) an independently produced album recorded in Port Townsend, Washington, gave Wells a chance to revisit some songs of the 1920s in a modern recording setting. In 2008, Wells also recorded Jump Little Children: Old Songs For Young Folks, a collection of children's music.
His 2017 recording, O Lightnin', Where Art Thou?, was issued by the German-based Blind Lemon Records. Wells played all of the instruments included in the collection, which had limited distribution in the US.
Performances/Teaching
Yearly Wells has performed at Festival for the Eno; (1981 onwards). In 1998 Wells performed with Algia Mae Hinton at Blues Al Femmenile for Centro Jazz Torino, Turin, Piedmont Region, Italy. Over the years Wells has also performed at 1996 Moulin Blues Festival; the Bull Durham Blues Festival (1990, 1993, 1995, 1998, and 2000); The Great Blue Heron Music Festival; 2000 Chicago Blues Festival; 2002 Gathering of the Vibes; 2006 Hampton Acoustic Blues Revival[14]; Roots of American Music Festival at Mars Hill University, NC; and the 2021 North Carolina Folk Festival among many others.
Wells has taught blues guitar as a regularly featured teacher and performer at the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, as well as the Augusta Heritage Center, (Blues Week) in Elkins, West Virginia. In addition, He’s a frequent faculty member at the Swannanoa Gathering. Wells was a touring artist for North Carolina Arts Council and was included on the American Traditions National Roster (through the Southern Arts Federation).[6] For ten years he worked on the board of directors at Music Maker Relief Foundation and he served as an advisor in the early years of Piedmont Blues Preservation Society in Greensboro, NC. Wells was featured in a 2015 independently produced documentary film, Straight Six Blues.