Say It Loud! with Adia Victoria

How did you first get your start as a Blues artist?

i was born a poor black girl in the deepest of the deep south
and i didn’t trust the lord to
soothe me, i left that to blues.
started writing my own tunes
at 21 or 22 while
living
in atl and listening
to victoria spivey and
skip james
and
then and there i heard sang for the first
time my folly and also my despair
at last i felt known
by a song and a singer.
and i said
‘this is what i wanna do’

Were there artists in particular who you looked to for inspiration, who you felt were breaking down barriers in the genre?

like i said—victoria spivey
when she sang
about them T.B. Blues and while no
id never suffered from
t u b e r c u l o s i s
i still felt close enough to the insane
mundane     urbane      mania
she     sang of.  she touched
something sleeping in me.

Given the influence black musicians have had on Blues music, are you surprised by the lack of representation of people of color? 

no. they don’t understand the depth to this style.

they take what we create and
make it safe and monetized.
the blues in our hands
is
a revelation. they know this and
seek to spay it.

Have you had to navigate any particular obstacles in order to gain respect within the Blues music scene?

whose respect do you think i seek but my own?

What advice would you give to other musicians of color looking to break in?

keep looking inside u til u can
tell me the sound
your
story makes.