Celebrating Black History Month and ahead of Women’s Day, the Grammy awardee and Chicago Hall of Fame inductee spoke to mid-day when she was in the city in the last year about women in Blues music, and the evolution of the genre, but not without sharing inspiration for Blues musicians in India
Sheryl Youngblood
Legendary blues singer Sheryl Youngblood loves to have a good time and it was just like that during Mahindra Blues Festival in 2024 where she got the audience grooving while trying to make them forget their troubles and party while singing and dancing along to her music.
Starting her career over three decades ago, the singer who started the Sheryl Youngblood Band over a decade ago, has been among many American blues female singers to make her mark over the years. It is why she believes, “music festivals and the arts and entertainment should embrace women artistry of music around the world. She explains, “There should be more female-based events and then have unified – both female and male events, and let us work together more often and that will bring a whole collective synergy to the music because we can all do this together.”
Having opened for the likes of Blues legends Buddy Guy during his residency and even at his clubs a lot, and watching BB King and even Bobby Blue Bland, she has seen blues music evolve a lot since she first started out, especially for women, as one could see very few women back then. She shares, “There were very few women like Denise LaSalle, (Big) Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor – you see them sit at the side. Then you see some men who embrace them and bring them up on stage, and that is so awesome. It was then women started coming on more shows and performing together with men, then the women start to stand up straight and do their own shows. It has evolved quite it a bit because you used to only see men do their own shows, then you saw men and women, and now you see an all-women show with Mahindra Blues Festival in India.”
In the time she has seen this change, Youngblood believes her music has also evolved while keeping the foundation of the blues intact. “We have to stay on that platform where we keep the 1-4-5. The Blues is 1-4-5. Other music is 6-7-8 and doing the blues, we have to stay on that platform,” shares Youngblood, who says the opportunity to perform for people outside the United States of America. “It is a new audience and there are people who can’t go to the United States, and they may never be able to go. So, to bring a United States person of music here is exciting.”
While Youngblood is a Grammy award winner for Gospel Music, she also has also been inducted in the Chicago Hall of Fame in 2015. Even after all these years, she feels it is honorable. However, she adds, “It also feels like I have to maintain my ground and really put the Blues out there because that’s what I am known for.” Being such an inspiration in the US and around the world, the musician shares a piece of advice for aspiring Blues musicians in India, saying, “Enjoy what you do. Don’t think about the money or the prestige. Learn your craft to the fullest of your ability. Ask questions. Go home and work on it. You should never get to the point where you think you know it all or have it all because you never.” Over time, the musician and singer reveals that she has overcome a stammer with the help of speech therapy, and has never looked back.
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