HEY LOCO FANS – may not have worn a crown, but in the world of North Mississippi hill country blues, he was royalty—fife royalty, to be exact. Sometimes spelled “Napolian” (because the blues doesn’t always bother with spellcheck), Strickland was the man who could turn a hollow cane flute into a force of nature.
Born near Como, Mississippi, Strickland grew up in the hills east of the Delta, where the music was less about slick city polish and more about raw rhythm. He learned his first notes from his father, then got a master class in fife-blowing from Othar Turner, another local legend. From there, Strickland became a one-man band in human form: guitar, harmonica, diddley bow, drums, and anything else that could be hit, strummed, or blown into to make music. Still, the fife remained his calling card.
Strickland’s music wasn’t confined to back porches and cotton fields. He lit up festivals, appeared on compilation albums that helped preserve hill country blues for posterity, and even showed up in the documentary The Land Where the Blues Began, proving to the world that Mississippi dirt roads could groove harder than any neon-lit stage.
Though widely regarded as the premier fife player of his generation, Strickland lived the life of a sharecropper, teaching and inspiring countless younger musicians. A car accident in the 1980s slowed him down physically, but not musically—he kept playing even from a nursing home. When he passed away in 2001 at the age of 81, he left behind a legacy that proved you don’t need electricity, a spotlight, or even a proper spelling of your name to make unforgettable music.
In short: Napoleon Strickland wasn’t just playing the blues—he was keeping one of its oldest, wildest traditions alive, one piercing fife note at a time.
Thanks to multi-instrumentalist Bill Steber for the photo. He’s a talented and charismatic musician – go see him live if you can!
Picnic with Napoleon Strickland & Como Drum Corps (1978)
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