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December Cover Story PDF Print E-mail
Back stage, on stage, in the corridors or in the parking lot… Bobby Rush is still the most gracious entertainer - an opinion shared by many in and out of the enterainment and music industry. He's been in the business forever, literally 50+ years and it would be conceivable to think that maybe he would just "settle down." Not the case here. Bobby Rush has won just about every award known to man. This past summer he was named International Entertainer of the Year at the 32nd Annual Cingular Jackson Music Awards and The Best Blues Band at the Jus' Blues Awards. One might consider all the recognition and awards enough to "rest on his laurels." Not the case with Bobby Rush.
Rush continues to be one of the most exciting and creative artists. His popularity as a live performer has never stopped growing and expanding. Just in the last decade, Rush has gained new audiences through performances at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and on festival stages in Europe and Japan.

* Listen to the complete 1 hour Chittlin Circuit interview with Bobby Rush * The son of a preacher, Bobby Rush was born Emmet Ellis, Jr., in Homer, Louisiana. He has recorded on several different labels including Galaxy and Warner Brothers. In the early '80s Rush moved from Chicago to his current home of Jackson, Mississippi, where he recorded a series of albums for the LeJam, Ichiban, and Malaco labels, and gained the title of "King of the Chitlin Circuit" in the wake of hits including "Sue," "Wearin' It Out," "Ain't Studdin' You" and "Hoochie Man."
In 2003 Rush fulfilled his longtime dream of forming his own label, Deep Rush, recording the CD "Undercover Lover" and capturing the magic of his live show on DVD at the club Ground Zero in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Undoubtly, Rush has got talent. But what sets him a part from others is his "spice for life" and his "compelling spirit and desire" to never forget where he came from. As Rush puts it "I never want to forget the bridge that brought me over." For Rush, the bridge he so often refers to are the many fans that still to this day pack the houses in chitlin' circuit clubs in cities like Natchez, Mississippi; Pensacola, Florida, and Lafayette, Louisiana. Staying true to these people have awarded him the name… "The King of the Chitlin' Circuit."
(photo right Bobby Rush and his dancers)

"Success in the American music marketplace generally entails leaving behind the people that sustained you during your early years, but that's not a price Bobby Rush is willing to pay…He's determined to keep it real." (Scott Barretta, biography writer www.bobbyrush.net) In an intimate interview with the Chittlin' Circuit, Bobby Rush says it best. Join us on the next few pages as Bobby Rush explains how he's able to keep his music and performances fresh and attractive to audiences across the world.
 
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