Guitar Slim Jr. was born Rodney Glenn Armstrong on August 24, 1952 in New Orleans, the son of blues legend Eddie 'Guitar Slim' Jones, whose 'The Things That I Used to Do' was a million-selling hit. According to New Orleans legend, he received his first guitar as a gift from Huey 'Piano' Smith, and the great Earl King gave him his nickname — Guitar Slim Jr. He was not yet eight when his father died in 1959.
Slim Jr. worked for decades on the New Orleans blues club circuit, and his repertoire grew to rely on his father's material. His 1988 debut album, The Story of My Life — recorded at the Big Easy Studio on Paris Avenue with Jon Cleary, Shannon Powell, Rene Coman, and Milton Batiste Jr. — was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1989. He toured with Stevie Ray Vaughan in the late 1980s and remained his friend until Vaughan's death in 1990, and along the way befriended Prince, Johnny Winter, and Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown.
Though a prolific performer, Slim Jr. has released few studio albums: The Story of My Life (1988), Nothing Nice (1996, featuring the Memphis Horns), and Brought Up the Hard Way (2010). Orleans Records reissued The Story of My Life on vinyl and CD in 2017, and in 2025 he released Live at the 2025 Jazz & Heritage Festival, capturing the excitement of a live Guitar Slim Jr. performance.
