Award-winning blues songwriter and performer Jon Shain brings us his fingerstyle guitar arrangements of some of the earliest blues and rags ever published. W. C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues", wrote and arranged for piano and voice and sometimes for full ragtime orchestra. Shain has arranged these compositions to be played on guitar, weaving the timeless vocal melodies and bass lines throughout the pieces. Guitar tablature, standard musical notation, and lyrics are all included, along with historical background on each song. Includes access to online audio.