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Blues Musician With Local Ties Shot Dead

Eric Guitar Davis
Bob Kieser/Blues Blast Magazine via Illinois Central Blues Club

A Chicago blues guitarist who regularly performed in Springfield has been shot and killed.

Chicago police say officers found 41-year-old Eric "Guitar" Davis shot multiple times inside a vehicle in the South Shore neighborhood on Thursday morning.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Davis had spent the previous evening hanging out at a North Side blues bar called Kingston Mines.

Davis played with a group called the Troublemakers and was a fixture on Chicago's blues scene.

He also performed regularly in Springfield, and won the Central Illinois Blues Club challenge in 2010. That meant he went on to represent the club at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn.

Davis was the son of renowned drummer Bobby Davis. According to the musician's website, he, too, started out as a drummer and could be found playing in Chicago's hottest blues clubs by the age of 10.

Police say detectives are investigating.

Brian Mackey hosts The 21st Show and formerly reported on state government.