Who played the blues when it developed and who is still carrying on the tradition?

Exactly what are the Piedmont Blues? Piedmont Blues music originated in NC (and other Mid-Atlantic States) during the early 1900's. African-American guitarists incorporated ragtime piano rhythms and chord changes using the piano's left hand rhythm with their thumbs and the right hand's syncopated rhythms with their forefingers. Many cities and towns in NC attracted Piedmont blues artists, but the most influential musicians worked in Durham, Artists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee are the best known. Currently performers such as George Higgs, Etta Baker, John Dee Holman and others play this style of music.