Lead Belly in Washington D.C. T-Shirt - Classic Heavy Cotton 

This Bluescentric Brand authentic Lead Belly t-shirt comes in classic heavy 100% preshrunk cotton sizes S-5XL. Heather colors are 50/50. Sizes run very true, and have minimal, if any, shrinking. This is a standard go-to t shirt.

Official Lead Belly! Every sale directly benefits Lead Belly's estate. 

This extraordinary photo of Lead Belly was taken by William Gottlieb at a press club gathering in Washington D.C. in 1938.

It's notable that Lead Belly was in Washington at all... The previous June 1937, Lead Belly had traveled to the nation's capitol city to record for Alan Lomax, only to immediately experience horrifying firsthand Jim Crow racism.

Within hours, the guitarist had penned the famous song "Bourgeois Blues" -- a damning number about the disturbing treatment of people with black skin in Washington D.C.

But Lead Belly couldn't be held down by hate -- he returned to the town at least two more times in the following years, recording again with Lomax and acquainting himself with other rising artists of the time, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Josh White.