Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong (born William Howard Taft Armstrong, March 4, 1909 - July 30, 2003), was an African American string band and country blues musician who played fiddle, mandolin, guitar and sang. He was also a notable visual artist, linguist, and raconteur. Life Howard Armstrong was born in Dayton, Tennessee, and grew up in LaFollette. As a young teenager he taught himself to play the fiddle, and joined a band led by Blind Roland Martin and his brother Carl. They toured America performing a wide range of music, from work songs and spirituals through popular Tin Pan Alley tunes and foreign language songs. In 1929 he recorded with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell. The following year he recorded in Knoxville for Vocalion Records, with his brother Roland Armstrong and Carl Martin, billed as the Tennessee Chocolate Drops. Adding guitarist Ted Bogan, the band toured as part of a medicine show and backed blues artists like Bi

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