Donnie Gilliland/Sumter Bruton
SUMTER BRUTON is considered by many to be one of the top interpreters of the T-Bone Walker guitar style as well as an authority on blues and rhythm and blues music. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in a musical family. His late father was a jazz drummer and his younger brother, the late Stephen Bruton, was a guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. Sumter’s career began when he started playing guitar in 1962. The first bands he played in were college blues and rock & roll combos. In 1968 Sumter joined the Robert Ealey Blues Band. He was the only white musician in the group that became Robert Ealey and the 5 Careless Lovers in 1972. In 1974 Sumter formed his own band called Boogie Uproar, a blues and R&B band that featured a horn section. A year later he formed a similar band called Rhumboogie. In 1977 Sumter, along with singer/songwriter/guitarist Jim Colegrove, started the Juke Jumpers, a legendary Texas R&B, rockabilly, jazz and swing band. The J...