Charles Caldwell tunes an ancient hollow-body electric Gibson guitar reflected in the chrome of one of his many Cadillacs at his home in Coffeeville, MS. Caldwell, like the great majority of bluesmen in Mississippi, spent his life entertaining at local fish fries, jukes and house parties for little or no money, entertaining local audiences. Following the publication of this photo in the Oxford American magazine music issue of 2001, Caldwell was approached by Fat Possum records and recorded his one and only album for them. Caldwell was a couple years shy of retirement from his factory job and planned on pursuing a music career after retirement. Sadly, Caldwell was diagnosed with cancer and died in September of 2003, a few months before his album was released in 2004.