So, I don't really know of any folk, jazz, or classical musicians well enough to create art about them, so I went a more bluesy route and went with a musician I've been back into listening to a lot lately: Eric Clapton. My book cover design so far is:
The front cover will be the right side. What I'd like to do is take a straight on photo of Clapton playing the guitar. I'd like to crop it so just enough of his face is showing so people can kinda of tell it's him, but not show his whole face. I really want the focus to be more on the guitar because that's what he's known for. The title of the book will be curved along the inside of the bottom of the guitar. I'm hoping to find a slightly psychedelic/curvy font that will still look fancy and not too childish. The background will be littered with mostly transparent words that are actually some of his most popular song titles. Not all of them will be showing completely as I want it to look like I layered Clapton's image over-top of them, not that I'm bordering his image with the words afterward (if that makes any sense). My name (/author's name) will be towards the bottom left corner, though I'm not certain on the type of font or size of it yet.
The bookend will simply be the title in the font I find for the title on the guitar and my last name towards the bottom as most books tend to be designed.
At the top of the back cover, (ideally) I'd like to try to re-create this image without the woman and her dog:
I may end up using this image itself though because I want it to look like a snapshot of his "fandom" in action and I think this image does that. I'd like to try doing it myself though for some more Photoshop experience.
Below that I'd do a little write up on him: awards he's won, bands he's been in, the sorts of things authors try to entice people with on the backs of books. Again, the song titles will be along the background.
As for a color scheme, I think I see the front being a warm, dark beige and some red. Kind of muted/hazy, but a little funky. Given that, the "Clapton Is God" sign will have to become more sepia toned to fit in with the rest of the cover. Those colors are certainly subject to change, however. Let me know what you think!