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Grady Champion is a young, blues singer and harmonica player, born October 10, 1969, that has been compared to Sonny Boy Williamson, and people can hear exactly why on his Shanachie debut Payin' for My Sins released August 24, 1999. The album includes a version of "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" that really shows Grady's high-energy singing and harmonica playing and an update of the traditional blues lament "Goin' Down Slow" with an AIDS parable -- a hard-bitten vignette of modern life. His revved-up, soulful vocalizing and the charm and insight he brings to his songwriting in numbers like the campy "My Rooster Is King" and the classic-sounding tale of infidelity "You Got Some Explaining to Do" (co-written by his producer Dennis Walker, who helped Robert Cray reach national fame) mark Grady as an important new talent. |
Dave McIntyre,
BLUES ACCESS magazine, Summer 1996 issue, p.
109
On Saturday's midnight cruise, I was
immediately drawn to the upper deck, where I found Hawkeye Herman
and T.J. Wheeler, two great pickers, engaged with a younger
harpist from Mississippi named Grady Champion, exchanging songs
and doing requests.
Grady's voice not only made me think of Robert Johnson, but the way he worked the crowd seemed as though Johnson's, or Luther Allison's, fire and raw sense of what the audience needs was being born inside him."
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Grady is a native of Canton, Mississippi and brings a unique style to the Blues. He started performing at the age of 8 in the Church Choir where his love for music began. Through the years he has developed into not only a great singer and harmonica player, but also an innovative songwriter and producer. In 1994, Grady won the McDonald's MusicFest with his performance of "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues" and brought the audience of 10,000 to their feet. He has had the pleasure of performing with Blues Greats Luther Allison, Lucky Peterson, and Junior Wells as well as "Clean-Up Woman" Betty Wright. Also available is Grady's self-produced debut album Goin' Back Home. |
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