Funeral held for Leland blues musician killed in wreck

INDIANOLA – Funeral services were held Saturday for a Leland musician killed in a car accident while returning home from touring with his band. Lil’ Dave Thompson died around 7 a.m., on Sunday, Feb. 14, after the van he was riding in flipped over on the highway.

Sources from Thompson’s camp said the musician was coming home after the last day of a “very successful tour,” and a performance at The Blues Bash at Fiery Ron’s in Charleston, South Carolina. Traveling in the 2003 Ford vehicle was Thompson and two of his band mates. The van was traveling westbound on I-20 near Aiken, South Carolina, when the driver hit a hole in the road, lost control and overturned.

Highway patrolmen said the van slid about 500 feet and struck several trees before coming to a final rest. Thompson, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton. Thompson was 41.

Carlton told officials that none of the three passengers were wearing seatbelts and that the driver and the other passenger were not seriously injured.

The accident remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol and Aiken County officials.

Funeral services for Thompson were held Saturday at Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Indianola, Miss.

Born David Lonzo Thompson in Hinds County on May 21, 1969, Lil’ Dave was known as “a role model of the newest generation of electric blues guitarists.”

According to his website, Thompson’s exposure to music came early and has always been a way of life. His father, the late Sam Thompson, also a musician, played with Willie Foster, Asie Payton, Paul Wine Jones, Eddie Cusic, James Son Thomas and many others.

Thompson’s list of influences reads like an anthology of the blues when his family was burned out in Moorhead, Miss., and they moved to B.B. King’s hometown, of Indianola. But it was some years later, at the age of 14, that Thompson formed his first band in Leland. Thompson, his drummer Dell Cusic and bass player, Allen Hite called themselves The Delta Blues Band.

As a teenager, Thompson played with various blues, Reggae, and gospel bands in the delta area until he met and toured with the late Booba Barnes in 1990.

By the age of 21, Thompson’s life, music and experiences away from the Delta were in full swing and his musical career was flourishing. After two successful CD’s and nominations for two Handy awards in 1996, Thompson soon discovered that he was ready for bigger things.

He soon released a new CD and toured extensively with his band in both the U.S. and Europe.

Thompson and his band performed at several festivals throughout his career including the famous Chicago Blues Festival, the Annual Vermont Blues Festival and the Pocono Blues Festival where critics said Thompson “tore up the stage and brought the house down.”

Thompson toured a different venue almost every night since January 2010, and his last scheduled performance for February was the night before he died at Fiery Ron’s in South Carolina.

Thompson was returning home to his family.

Thompson is survived by his five children: David Jr., Danielle, Shequeena, Shirleiah and Destiny.

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