Alabama bluesman James Peterson was born in Russell County, Alabama, on November 4, 1937. Peterson’s father owned a juke joint, and the musical bug bit the young boy early on. He moved to Gary, Indiana, in 1952 and began to teach himself to play guitar. By 1955 Peterson had settled in Buffalo, New York, and was working at Allied Chemical.

On July 12, 1965, Peterson opened Governor’s Inn: The House of Blues in Buffalo, the first of many blues clubs he would run throughout his life. Peterson booked the big names of the day including Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Lowell Fulson, Junior Wells and many others. Over the years Peterson ran several other clubs including the Inn after Dark in St. Petersburg, Florida, One Stop Inn in Tampa, the New Governor’s Inn in Buffalo and Club 49 in Eufaula, Alabama.