Sherman Lee Dillon leaves a legacy of family, music, and deep love of community

by Susan Marquez, Magnolia Tribune

 

 

Yet another Mississippi cultural treasure has left us too soon. Bluesman Sherman Lee Dillon passed away earlier this fall.

Sherman Lee grew up 15 miles outside of Meadville, Mississippi, the town where he was born in 1951. His first exposure to music was at his Cousin Geraldene’s. She had a piano, and Sherman Lee would walk to her home, where she gave him lessons. His Uncle Erastus taught old-time shape note singing, and Sherman Lee carried on that tradition. He began playing the guitar when he was 12 years old, and the harmonica at 14. By 15, he was also playing the banjo and steel guitar. He also played trumpet in the school band. In a county with only one black-topped road, Sherman Lee performed for neighborhood gatherings.

News of his talent got around, and one night a band from McComb stopped at the Dillon home to see if Sherman Lee, who was 16 at the time, would play guitar with them. They went to Baton Rouge to record an album, and that was the beginning of his music career. While he probably could have made it in Memphis, New York, Los Angeles, or Nashville, Sherman Lee took another road, and he never regretted his decision.

He married his wife, Louise, when he was 19 years old. In a Facebook post in 2022, Dillon wrote: “When I was 19 years old, I caught a plane from Jackson, MS to Boston, MA. Then I caught a bus to Plaistow, NH. Then I hitched a ride to Sweet Hill Road where I waited for Louis Gatti to come home from work. I told him I wanted to marry his daughter. We talked until midnight, and he gave in. That was the best thing I’ve ever done!!! Today we’ve been married 51 years. When I look at her, she still looks 18.”

He has always supported his family with his music. And it was a big family.

 

A Family Affair

 

Louise and Sherman Lee had seven children together. He had already been a musician for 20 years by the mid-90s, when he rounded up instruments for his wife, children, and a son-in-law. The Dillon Family Band played at churches, festivals, and schools around Mississippi until life got in the way. By 2004, college, career moves, and marriage made it difficult for the Dillons to continue their music career as a family band.

 

 

Sherman Lee continued to play solo gigs, but soon his son, Andrew John (fiddle/vocals), joined Sherman Lee on stage. Then daughter Anna Lee (guitar/vocals) joined them, and the trio became known as Sherman Lee Dillon and the Dillonaires.

I first saw the Dillon Family Band at a demonstration day at the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi when it was still located on the Natchez Trace. The family played music outside, and I was mesmerized. They could easily have been on a television variety show. That was the day I became a Sherman Lee Dillon fan, and I enjoyed hearing him play at many venues around town.

 

Recognition on a Wide Scale

 

He played regularly at the Iron Horse Grill, Hal & Mal’s, Martin’s, F. Jones Corner, Kathryn’s, and other venues. He has also played around the country and abroad, including gigs at Merlefest in North Carolina, Chicago Blues Festival, Rio de Janeiro Blues Fest in Brazil, the Orangeville Blues/Jazz Festival in Ontario, and the Cali Folk Festival in Colombia, South America.

But his talent was known beyond the central Mississippi area. He played with artists like Rufus Thomas, Sam Myer, William Bell, J.T. Watkins, and McKinnley Mitchell, to name a few. He also played with B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Bobby Rush, Little Milton, and Koko Taylor. Sandy Davis, the casting director for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, used Sherman Lee as a voice model and personal music coach for actor Tim Blake Nelson, who played Delmar in the movie. He was one of three dobro players in the film, and he performed at the cast party.

In 2010, Sherman Lee competed in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, where he was a finalist. His 2014 CD, State of the Blues, was named Traditional CD of the Year by the Rural Roots Music Commission.

 

 

He released other albums, including 309 Blues (Wepecket Island Records) and Dirty, Dusty Road with the Dillonaires.

A multi-instrumentalist, Sherman Lee was a bluesman, influenced by bluegrass, Gospel, and folk music. He was a showman and an entertainer with a career honoring a blend of Mississippi roots music and a lifelong commitment to cultural preservation and community. He was also an avid conservationist, and he ran for Governor of Mississippi in 2003 on the Green Party ticket.

Jack Radliffe, a musician from Massachusetts who also recorded on Wepecket Island Records, toured with Sherman Lee for over twenty years. Radcliffe once wrote about Sherman Lee: “Someone is hard-pressed to find an entertainer on the market today that embodies the Southern charm, skills, and fun any better than Sherman Lee Dillon. He comes with his road-worn metal guitar, harmonicas so hot that they boil water, a banjo that tastes like moonshine, vocals that make you recall your 16-year-old sweetheart, and stories (half-truths and lies) that make you remember being there.”

Sherman Lee Dillon leaves a legacy of family, music, and deep love of community. A funeral mass was held for Sherman Lee on September 10, 2026, at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Cleveland, Tennessee.

A final word from Sherman Lee Dillon on a potential state song for Mississippi.