International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

In January I was honored to be a representative of the Sydney Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis ~ playing two shows for the IBC, an International Showcase, and the National Women in Blues Showcase. The music was great, the vibe was great, and oh yeh, you better believe that Southern hospitality is all its cracked up to be. After Memphis I traveled down to the Delta, and was thrilled to play a couple of blues songs in Red’s Blues Club, Clarksdale.

Thanks to Vera van Faassen for the photo, taken in Red’s.

With a delivery somewhere between Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the aforementioned Memphis Minnie, Chris’s own songs stay firmly within the tradition that has so inspired her, with trains, work gangs and cotton fields the backdrop to the usual tribulations of life, from hard lovin’ to just making ends meet workin’ for the Man. You can hear the passion, the commitment, and that gives her own songs the necessary authenticity, a true master’s apprentice.

Rhythms Magazine 2017 ~ Michael Smith