BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
A Chicago blues guitarist was shot to death early Thursday in the South Shore neighborhood.
Officers found the 41-year-old man shot multiple times inside a vehicle in the 6700 block of South East End Avenue about 5:20 a.m., police said. He was dead on the scene.
Eric “Guitar” Davis, of the 14200 block of South Eggleston Avenue in Riverdale, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
Chicago blues legend Linsey Alexander said Davis was hanging out at North Side blues bar Kingston Mines Wednesday night. Nobody answered the phone at the club Thursday afternoon.
“The last time I did open mic he was there with his kids,” Alexander said. “He had a good personality. He didn’t try to harm nobody.”
Eric “Guitar” Davis and the Troublemakers were scheduled to play Sophie’s in Clinton, Ill., later this month, said club manager Rudy Barrera. Davis was scheduled to play three shows at The Beale on Broadway in St. Louis after Christmas, according to his website.
“He put a lot of energy into his shows,” Barrera said. “He was very personable when you talked to him. Very happy … very laid back.”
“A lot of musicians have a little ego, but this guy was just good. He was fun and involved the crowd. He would bring a lot of people on stage … He had a lot of energy and carried the whole place on his shoulder.”
Fans took to social media as word of Davis’ death spread. On the Eric “Guitar” Davis and the Troublemakers Facebook page, Lou DiMenna posted “RIP A huge loss to the blues community. My heart goes out to his family.”
Area South detectives are investigating.
— Contributing: Tina Sfondeles