♪ Yeah yeah ♪
♪ Yeah I do and what you want ♪
♪ Baby why you wanna let it roll ♪
- That's one of the songs we used to sing when I was a kid.
Yeah man, this is it.
"Blues Holy Land" as they like to call it (laughs).
I was born here January 19, 1999.
Been around here all my life pretty much.
To me Clarksdale, which you call the "Blues"
it's blues all around here, you know,
with the poverty and you our fair share of crime
and the music of course.
So this is, Clarksdale represents, you know,
what blues is to me for sure.
♪ I'm leaving this town tomorrow ♪
(somber guitar).
♪ I got many places to see ♪
♪ And many places to go ♪
♪ I'm so tired of doing the same old thing ♪
♪ Shooting for the highest star ♪
♪ Want people to remember my name ♪
♪ If you don't understand ♪
♪ Let me break it down ♪
♪ I know that there's life ♪
♪ Outside of this town ♪
(somber guitar).
♪ I gat friends and family that I see everyday ♪
♪ Don't plan on moving forward ♪
♪ Stuck in the same old place ♪
♪ But that's not the road that I wanna go down ♪
♪ I gotta do what's best for me ♪
♪ Ain't no hanging around ♪
♪ I could stay here forever ♪
♪ But I just can't stick around ♪
♪ I know that there's life ♪
♪ Outside of this town ♪
(high intensity guitar).
(somber guitar).
(high intensity guitar).
(somber guitar).
♪ When the rooster crows I'm leaving ♪
♪ And I ain't looking back ♪
♪ All you gonna see is taillights ♪
♪ Crossing those railroad tracks ♪
♪ If I don't leave I'll die here ♪
♪ And end up six feet down ♪
♪ I know that there's life ♪
♪ Outside of this town ♪
(high intensity guitar).
(somber guitar).
Around the time of age 13 and 14.
When I started to write my own stuff
it would be just the bluesy cliche stuff, you know,
my woman left me.
Stuff I really didn't know about just what I had heard
when I started to take from my life experiences
and write what I really was feeling
and what was going on in my head.
That's when I really started to gain confidence
and develop, you know, what song writing really is,
you know, it's about your life experiences and about,
you know, what's going on in your head
rather than just trying to sing someone else's story.
The first one that I really thought
that was actual song that I had confidence in
was, "Outside of This Town."
Job opportunities are very scarce around here.
You know, as a kid, you really don't know,
but when you see it, transfers over
to when you get to hold it, you kind kinda just,
that's when I kind of just went to the music
'cause the music was like my all the way out from this.
So at the time when I wrote that I just felt like that,
I felt like that was a whole lot of talent here
that no one wanted to go out and expand.
And I just didn't wanna be like that.
And that was pretty much me showing my frustration,
You know.
(smooth piano music)
The first time I picked up a guitar
I think it was one of the gospel musician at the church.
It was bigger than me and I really
couldn't fit my arms around it
but just the excitement of actually holding one
something that I've been wanting to do for a minute,
you know, it gave me goosebumps in a way.
I was more church and gospel and fluids at the time
I didn't learn about the blues until age eight.
When I came here to Delta Blues Museum.
This is a show we did back in 2013, a radio show.
I was 14, this guy right here, Bill "Howl -N- Mad" Perry,
that's the one that gave me the name Kingfish,
Todd, he was like, hey man we need a name for this guy.
When the comical one, he was like man,
I wanna call him Kingfish 'cause he's full of it.
You know like that, he would award some of the students.
At the time he used to play like
Wednesday nights at Ground Zero.
And he'd be like, hey you know,
as soon it's gonna play this one song with me tonight.
'Cause he's been cool and he's been progressing.
So I'm gonna give him that opportunity.
So, of the times he gave it to me
and I was just looking at the crowd
and being on stage and the joy of, you know,
I couldn't stop talking about it.
I want to re-live every second of that.
I felt like, hey you know,
this is where I'm supposed to be.
This is what I was supposed to be doing.
♪ Time keeps ticking, long as people have to cry ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ When I see loved ones leaving, ♪
♪ Saying last goodbyes ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ I believe these blues ♪
♪ Are never gonna die ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ When I see bad things happen ♪
♪ To good folks everyday ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Children going hungry ♪
♪ With nothing on their plates ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ And I believe these blues ♪
♪ I never gonna go away ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ People try to end their troubles by drinking whiskey down ♪
♪ And I believe these blues will always be around ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ I can't tell the future ♪
♪ But I can sure now play my song ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ I can't tell the future ♪
♪ But I can show enough of play my song ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ And I believe these blues ♪
♪ Are gonna go on and on and on ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
I always though, I speak through the guitar
because you know, I've never been the type of person
to talk my problems out, you know.
I've always felt like the guitar was an extension of
you know, of my voice,
like anything that's going on in my head
I feel like I can't get out verbally.
I can get it down on my instrument.
So much stuff I've be wanting to say,
that's me like in my true form and my true element
calm guitar
And right here as you can see Clarksdale,
they put all the hometown heroes of some sort
on a trail type thing.
So they gave me one and I really appreciate it man.
Just got to show you that the town is really behind you
and it's really dope for sure.
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Everyday your sunshine ♪
♪ Comes peeking through my blinds ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Everyday your sunshine ♪
♪ Comes peeking through my blinds ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Brighten up my morning ♪
♪ With joy and peace of mind ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ I get up and head out ♪
♪ Taking in the brand new day ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ I get up and head out ♪
♪ Taking in the brand new day ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Brighten up my morning ♪
♪ In every step of the way ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ You bring the warm breeze ♪
♪ Blowing through the tall trees ♪
♪ Signs are all around me ♪
♪ Skies with the stars ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
I have always felt like there is pressure
especially coming from here in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
People want your sound to come a certain way.
You come from Clarksdale so they want you to moan
and groan and be old time.
But I think when I was younger...
Like real young, like not 15,
like when I was in the business
but I would say around age eight,
I was an old soul who got those stuff
but then sometimes I be like man, oh man,
let's play something funky.
But for me, the old guy used to tell me,
man, in order to get to that funky stage
you got to go through all the old stuff in the hills
in the old slave chance tunes,
and you know, just to get there.
It's always been a slippery slope with me.
I think like we can take from the past,
but also add elements of the modern food
just to where we created some new.
So we could have guys trying to cover our songs
in the future, so yeah.
♪ The light goes on forever ♪
♪ But the beauty never ends ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
♪ Feel you in the warm breeze ♪
♪ Blowing through the tall trees ♪
♪ Sounds are all around me ♪
♪ Sky with the stars ♪
♪ I just wanna stop and stare ♪
♪ So much tender love and care ♪
♪ His fingerprints are everywhere ♪
♪ Just listen to your heart ♪
(lighthearted guitar).
The blues were started off for racism
you know, it was build out for that
So I feel like it's imperative for me to say something
and add that in my music.
Blues music is black music historically.
This is our story and we're just trying to see change
'cause we deal with this a lot in the blues world, you know,
we have a lot of power people who don't really look like us
and they don't really have a clear understanding
of what the music is.
With my music I wanna bring back more unity
from the black race.
I wanna see more young people embrace it
so we can show them I don't know,
taking it back type of thing but just showing them
you know, this is our history and we wanna preserve it
and we wanna keep it with the integrity in it.
And we don't wanna whitewash it or gingerfy it.
You know in no type of way.
And that's why we need to talk about
the real issues as going on today.
'Cause all of that plays a factor into it.
(cheerful guitar).
♪ I was born at the turn of the century ♪
♪ Lucky to be born at all ♪
♪ Grew up way down in Mississippi ♪
♪ When I heard Robert Johnson call ♪
♪ Well I've seen a lot and I've done a lot ♪
♪ Gentle you lay down in that hole ♪
(cheerful guitar).
♪ Well I'm just trying to fly high and not die ♪
♪ Before I'm old ♪
(cheerful guitar).
♪ Breaking rocks on a chain gang ♪
♪ Up until the sun went down ♪
♪ Is too many souls are buried ♪
♪ And the dirt poured down to ground ♪
♪ Well I've seen a lot and I've done a lot ♪
♪ Just too gonna lay down in that hole ♪
(cheerful guitar).
♪ Well I'm just trying to fly high and not die ♪
♪ Before I'm old ♪
(cheerful guitar).
(high intensity guitar).
♪ I put lightning back in bottles ♪
♪ I Poke rattlesnakes just for fun ♪
♪ People say I got an old soul ♪
♪ And I ain't nothing but twenty-one ♪
♪ But I've seen a lot and I done a lot ♪
♪ Gentle you wanna lay down and in that hole, ♪
(cheerful guitar).
♪ Well I'm just trying to fly high and not die ♪
♪ Just trying to fly high and not die ♪
♪ Well I'm just trying to fly high and not die ♪
♪ Before I'm old ♪
(cheerful guitar).
♪ Before I'm old ♪
(cheerful guitar).
(high intensity guitar).
I feel like we need more of us represented in this genre.
I'm gonna say it's quite appalling when you see
a blues festival with only one black person
just to say that we had a black person on there.
And I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I feel like
I was the talking black person.
'Cause it's crazy when you feel like that.
Like we don't need to see that especially in the genre
that you know, it's us you know,
it's a lot of that going on in the blues world you know.
I feel like certain people just wanna hear about
black people singing about cotton fields
and this, that, and that.
They don't wanna hear about us wanting to progress
or anything like that.
And I didn't want to fall into that stigma.
I want to do something different,
I want to push the envelope,
I want to go outside the box and see what I can make.