Almost 20 years ago, in 1997, Steve Salter became frustrated that he could not find the resting places of many of the blues musicians who were his heroes. To fill that void, he founded the Killer Blues Headstone Project as a means to fund and provide personalized headstones for blues musicians who have been lying in unmarked graves. At first it was mainly funded by sales of his calendar or personal donations, but in 2009 the project became a 501(c)(3) corporation. To date, the group has provided 76 headstones including those for Luther Tucker, Walter Davis, Mose Vinson, Gary Primich, Roosevelt Sykes, Ted Hawkins, Phillip Walker, Tommy McClennan, Sammy Lawhorn, Frankie Lee Sims, Robert Belfour, Eddie Kirkland, Lonnie Johnson, and many more. On the project’s website there is currently a section which asks for help in locating the graves of musicians Steve is still searching for, as well as a listing of musicians currently lying in unmarked graves.
