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Musicians will have to continue to be creative for now and for the foreseeable future. It’s not the
easiest... I’d much rather be performing in front of a live crowd, however, I think one plus side of

things will be that many musicians will return with new skills that hopefully they can invest into
their careers of music. As far as our album Memphis Loud goes, which was released right in the
middle of the pandemic, I think it has brought a lot of people joy and a break from the turmoil, and
that makes me happy if nothing else... that it can be available for people during a hard time... that’s
pretty awesome! So, I encourage everyone to take a break, and take a ride... might as well be on

The Train!

~ Lawrence Lebo
Lawrence Lebo is an award winning, critically acclaimed Blues recording artists living in Los Angeles,
CA, USA. She can be found on the web at www.lawrencelebo.com

“To back up the recently created statement on diversity issued by the Federation, we ask the
question... where are the BAME participants and musicians in the UK blues scene?

“To back up the recently created statement on diversity
issued by the Federation, we ask the question... where are
the BAME participants and musicians in the UK blues
scene?

It has been suggested that there are not enough British BAME

role models to try and attract more younger people of colour
into the blues scene so we are looking at a 21-year-old African
American blues guitarist 'Chris Kingfish Ingram' who is
taking America by storm.

Born in Clarksdale, the legendary town in the Mississippi
delta that brought us Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, Sam Cooke and many more, the
young Kingfish learnt his craft at the schools blues programme run by the Delta Blues Museum. He
furthered his education in workshops run by the Pinetop Perkins Foundation every summer and by
the time he was 15 he was playing not only the local blues venues in Clarksdale but also for
Michelle Obama at the White House.

As his reputation grew, Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records saw him at the 2017 Chicago blues
festival and before long Kingfish had signed to the greatest blues label in history.
His debut cd “Kingfish” released in May 2019 was Grammy nominated and won 5 awards in the
2020 American Blues Music awards including album of the year.

It is hoped that when it is safe to travel that a UK tour could be arranged for Kingfish and then the
young aspiring British blues guitarists can see firsthand someone who will be at the forefront of
blues for years to come.”
Words by Pete Evans.