PHOENIX — Carvin Jones, a self-taught blues guitarist known as the "king of strings," died Sunday at 60 years old after battling prostate cancer. A close friend and business partner said the Valley musician had a family history of cancer but never let his diagnosis dim his spirit.
Jones first came to Phoenix from Lufkin, Texas, as a teenager. His longtime friend and business partner, Lisa Steen, said his first job in Phoenix was working as a security guard at a car lot.
"He just sat there on top of a car and played his guitar all night," Steen said, "playing for chicken wings and Pepsi, he would always say."
Without an agent and without ever taking a formal guitar lesson — teaching himself entirely by ear — Jones and his six-string traveled the world playing the blues.
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"It was like having a front row seat at a Van Halen concert watching this guy perform," said Carvin's longtime drummer, Levi Velasquez
Velasquez, who reached out virtually from Europe, said Jones helped change the course of his life and many members of the rest of his band, The Black Hole.
"He just taught me a lot about not only playing the blues and the music business but being confident and going after the things I want to do," Velasquez said.
Jones had recently celebrated beating prostate cancer by ringing a bell. Steen was by his side when he died Sunday, calling it the most devastating experience of her life.
"Nothing compares to it; not only was he my best friend, I knew the world was leaving, he was a good, good person," Steen said.
Beyond music, Jones hosted youth basketball camps, organized grocery giveaways for those in need, and held jam sessions for children battling cancer.
Bass player Darwin Scott remembered Jones as one of the happiest blues players people he ever knew.
"If anybody was sad, or mad, or had a problem, he didn't have it. You better put a smile on your face. You know he could turn it around, that's what I'll miss about him," Scott said.
A celebration of life is being planned, with people expected to travel from around the world to attend.
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