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LIBBY RAE WATSON : “I put those guitars up on the bed and walked out the door.”

Libby Rae Watson is a Mississippi Gal born and raised. A friend of and mentored by Sam Chatmon of
the Mississippi Sheiks, she has roots deep in the blues. Ian McKenzie spoke to on the telephone.

BiTS: Is it okay to call you Libby Rae? Are you happy with that?

LRW: Oh yes, that’s fine. Sure, Ian, that’s fine and by the way, Bert said to tell you hello before we
get started here. I wanted to send his regards to you.

BiTS: That’s very good. Thank you very much,
indeed. How was the storm? Did it pass easily?

LRW: Well the storm for us where I live was
mostly just some rain and wind and it’s just

yard debris kind of stuff. A tidal surge if you’re
near the water, the usual low-lying stuff. It’s
nothing bad.

BiTS: Tell me whereabouts you are. You’re

somewhere on the Gulf Coast, is that right?

LRW: Yes, I’m all the way on the Gulf Coast
between Mobile and New Orleans.

BiTS: Okay, and how long have you lived there?
Libby Rae

LRW: All my life.

BiTS: And tell me something about your childhood, growing up there. What’s the name of the
place, by the way?

LRW: The name of the town I live in is called Pascagoula. It’s an Indian name. There were
Pascagoula Indians here at one time and they’re a long-extinct tribe but that’s where the name
comes from and I grew up here as the youngest of six children. My mum died when I was very
young, so my dad never remarried. I was just raised in a single-parent household, down here on
the Gulf of Mexico. Only one out of the six children that has the music thing. None of the others do.

BiTS: Was there music in your house when you were a kid?

LRW: Not really. No.

BiTS: How did you happen to get into it then?

LRW: Well, I don’t know. I always liked it, so I guess some DNA thing was in there. I don’t know
where but because I was raised by a single parent and during the time that I was raised in the