The winner of the 2010 Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge is scheduled to appear on a locally based television show this weekend. Jackson native and Mississippi Bluesman Grady Champion will appear on the Delta Renaissance, hosted by C. Sade Turnipseed, Saturday at 1 p.m., on Delta Fox 10.
Delta Renaissance focuses on the many historic preservation efforts underway throughout the region, while showcasing the visual and musical diversity of the numerous artists within the state of Mississippi. This culturally stimulating program is a new concept for WABG and Delta Fox-TV, and also allows local authors to introduce and discuss their new projects.
Champion, this week’s guest, is a guitarist, singer, harmonica player and songwriter. Champion released two nationally acclaimed recordings in 1999 and 2001 for Shanachie Records.
Both his debut, Payin’ For My Sins and 2 Days Short of a Week put Champion on the national touring blues map and helped launch his career far beyond the boundaries of his native Mississippi.
Growing up in rural Canton, just outside of Jackson, Champion was the youngest of his father’s 28 children. Raised on a farm, hard work soon became a way of life for the young Champion.
Like so many other blues performers that came along before him, Champion got his musical start by singing gospel in the church choir as a child. For Champion, it was at the tender age of 8.
By the time he was 15, his mother moved her family to Miami, Fla., where Champion attended school and lived for one year. He soon returned to Mississippi during his senior year of high school.
After he was graduated, Champion returned to Florida where he dabbled briefly in boxing and radio broadcasting.
In 1998, he recorded and released his own album, Goin’ Back Home, drawing huge crowds at local clubs and venues. His musical career peaked that year when he caught the eye of music executives at Shanachie Records, who later signed him to a contract.
Outspoken and honest, Billboard.com said Champion bases his lyrics from “personal experience and social commentary.” Two of his songs in particular, Policeman Blues [about racial profiling] and Children of the Corn, a song about the rising tide of youth violence, are sobering indications of his candor.
Writer Richard Skelly said from the inception of Champion’s relatively new career as a blues performer, “he has sought to tackle new lyrical themes with his original compositions. As a triple threat -harmonica player, guitarist and songwriter – Champion accomplishes his goal in grand style, all the while becoming one of the brighter beacons in the future of blues music.”
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