"If my music brings happiness and joy, or touches someone, gives them what they need…then I’ve succeeded. I don’t understand any of the spirit, music, or the meaning of life! I look for the joy in things. I’m pretty simple in my happiness."

Libby Rae Watson:

Mississippi Blues Woman

Libby Rae Watson is an authentic Blues woman who has been playing Blues since the early 1970's. She helped organize the talent for the very first Delta Blues Festival in Greenville, MS in 1978. Furry Lewis, Eugene Powell, Houston Stackhouse, Big Joe Williams and Sam Chatmon were among the musicians at that festival. Libby Rae Watson grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi a few blocks from the Gulf of Mexico. She became captivated by Blues music when in her teens after stumbling across a songbook in a local music store. It was full of songs and photos of Blues greats! Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten... legends of the early Blues. It was the beginning of a life long infatuation of the music, the people who made it, and the culture of her own State. She later searched for and became friends with several Blues musicians. She was mentored by the great Sam Chatmon who was the last surviving member of the Mississippi Sheiks. "I didn't plan to go 'find' the Blues. The Blues found me. I've been consumed by it for over 40 years! Like Sam Chatmon said, “ The Blues is my daily occupation!”        

(Libby Rae Watson / Photo by Peter Lee)

In 2022 also brought her back to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, performing with the Hoodoo Men. Libby Rae Watson has played many festivals and music venues throughout the South and Canada... New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, King Biscuit Blues Festival, Juke Joint Festival, to name a few. In 2013, She toured the Maritimes of Canada with famed Canadian blues man, Doc MacLean. Since 2012, Libby Rae tours as a solo performer, and with various configurations with fellow musicians Rambling Steve Gardner, Bill Steber, Austin Walking Cane, Walker T. Ryan, Sam Rorex, Sammy Baker and Wes Lee as the Jericho Road Show, The Stoop Down Rounders and the Hoodoo Men. In 2019, she collaborated with Blues mandolin player, Bert Deivert, for a tour in Sweden. This resulted in a new cd released in 2020 called SHE SHIMMY!

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has the Blues (and people of) influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

The music and the people who perform it have opened my eyes and my mind up to the real connection we all have to the Blues. Ms. Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records fame, told me everybody gets the Blues… and she wrote a song about it. Doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. We all get the Blues about something!

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? What touched you from the sound of body metal and slide guitar?

I play what I like. My songbook consists of old Blues tunes from the 20’s and up, songs I’ve written or co-written, and cover songs I’ve enjoyed. The first time I heard a Steel National guitar, I was stunned! I had to have one! Now I have 2! A 1930’s Duolian and a 2017 National Piccolo!

What's the balance in music between technique and soul/emotions? What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

I really am not aware of a balance as much as it flows and all I have to do is enjoy it. Maybe that’s the balance! Sam Chatmon, of the famous Mississippi Sheiks, told me to take a song and play it your way. I had mentioned that I couldn’t play like him. He said, ”You ain’t supposed to! You ain’t ME!” That gave me permission to change lyrics to cover songs and sing them from a woman’s point of view.

"Honestly, don’t care too much about that. I don’t care to dissect the Blues. Just enjoy the music. If the music is good, it will affect people positively." (Libby Rae Watson with her mentor, the late great bluesman Sam Chatmon, Hollandale Mississippi / Photo by Ziggy Christmann)

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Meeting the old Blues players, who are now gone. They all played a part in making me who I am. Advice…same as above… Sam’s (Chatmon) advice. Be yourself.

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

Oh yeah! Many! Too many! Meeting Bob Dylan while hanging out with Big Joe Williams.

*In Memphis once, we took Johnny Woods (harmonica player with Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside) to a session and his wife, Verlena, insisted on going. She was a handful! She was jealous that Johnny was getting all the attention at the session. So in the middle of the song she got up and walked over to where Johnny was and slap him upside the head! Then she walked back and sat down as if nothing happened! Crazy!

*I was playing a gig and Clarksdale with my friend Austin Walkin’ Cane, who has a prosthetic leg. I was playing wooden spoons on my leg when he took his leg off and handed it to me to play the spoons on in the middle of the song! It was pretty funny, watching the audience catch on slowly! Then all the cell phones came out in the video started! Many more!

What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

I miss the old acoustic solo players. A lot of blues is now full bands and waaay toooo loud. When my body thumps with the bass, it’s time to go. I do like bands that are respectful of the music and how it is presented. And I’ve always thought that the bravest players are solo.

What is the impact of Blues on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

Honestly, don’t care too much about that. I don’t care to dissect the Blues. Just enjoy the music. If the music is good, it will affect people positively.

"I miss the old acoustic solo players. A lot of blues is now full bands and waaay toooo loud. When my body thumps with the bass, it’s time to go. I do like bands that are respectful of the music and how it is presented. And I’ve always thought that the bravest players are solo." (Libby Rae Watson / Photo by Peter Lee)

John Coltrane said "My music is the spiritual expression of what I am...". How do you understand the spirit, music, and the meaning of life?

If my music brings happiness and joy, or touches someone, gives them what they need…then I’ve succeeded. I don’t understand any of the spirit, music, or the meaning of life! I look for the joy in things. I’m pretty simple in my happiness.

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