Mississippi-born L.V. Banks (October 28th, 1932 to May 2, 2011), grew up singing Muddy Waters' songs while picking cotton and later played house parties in Indianola for his idol B.B. King. In 1965, Banks made the inevitable journey to Chicago, where he has remained one of the South Side's most prominent journeymen. It was King who encouraged the young Banks to take up the guitar to complement his fine voice, and his influence on Banks' use of both instruments is evident in the emphatic falsetto phrases and the snap of the single string solos.