By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
JAREKUS AT PEACE
T
he blues accolades and expectations
have been piling up on Jarekus
Singleton's 30-year-old shoulders at
a steady pace. A charismatic guitarist,
singer and songwriter with sharp insight
way beyond his years, he's won blues challenges, scored record deals and garnered
the requisite "blues savior" and "future of
the blues" titles. Although he takes his
calling seriously, he seems to be unimpressed with the hype and glory. "I'm glad
to be part of the blues community," he
Jarekus Stringer
explained during a call from his
Mississippi home. "I want to reach people.
Music brings people together, it's not
about competition. It's about inspiring
people."
The inspiration is all over his recently
released Alligator Records debut, Refuse To
Lose. A rousing collection of guitar-driven
blues underscored with Jarekus' emotional
conviction. "I don't write fictional tales.
Every song you hear is my experience," he
said. It's an unexpected treat to hear the
life experiences of a 30-year-old, packed
into 12 engaging and heartfelt tunes, but
Jarekus doesn't quite process the particulars of life like the typical 30-year-old, just
coming out of his free-wheeling '20s.
Graced with a classic blues upbringing of
spiritual redemption and worldly struggle, he crafts blues for the 21 century,
bursting with contemporary influences
but grounded in ancient traditions.
The title track, a standout blues anthem
that declares, "My soul is my weapon and
I refuse to conceal it," illustrates just how
grounded he is. Raised in his grandfather's
church in Jackson, Mississippi, where
attendance was required five times a
week, Jarekus learned not just biblical
teachings but finely honed musical skills.
"I was nine when my uncle put a bass in
my hand and told me, ‘don't stop playing
until I tell you to stop.' "With no experience or instruction with instruments,
Jarekus quickly mastered the bass as well
as the guitar. "I wouldn't have known that
I was musically inclined if my uncle hadn't
put that bass in my hand. He saw something in me that I didn't."
Blues fans will be eternally grateful for
his uncle's perception after listening to
Refuse To Lose. The musician wrote every
track and the passion pours out of the
album, covering listeners with true blues
salvation. The opening track sets the tone
with assured delivery, cascading guitar
riffs and lyrical cleverness; "On my way to
the top and I can feel it/drop the top on
my future no ceiling/…I grab my sixstring girlfriend/I tune the world out/and
now the world is tuning me in/y'all ain't
caught onto it yet/maybe this time you
won't forget/I win at whatever I
choose/because I refuse to lose." This proPhoto by Marilyn Stringer
nouncement rings true indeed, the musician wins with every song, from the
charged blues ballad "Crime Scene," to the
contagious encouragement of "Keep
Pushin", where he sums up his blues heritage with, "I got blue blood in my veins."
The themes of triumph over struggles
runs through the well-crafted CD and
Jarekus pulled from his experiences growing up in Mississippi in a single parent
household. "I never realized how poor we
were because I always had everything I
needed," he recalls. Jarekus had everything he needed artistically as well, from
his mother's inspired creativity and love of
secular music, to his weekly hours in
church, playing and singing non-stop. He
loved going to church, seeing his cousins
and aunts but he also loved basketball.
"Playing basketball was a thing of the
world," he explained. "My grandfather
stood me up in front of church and told me
I shouldn't be playing." Observing his
cousins cut off from worldly things like
movies, dancing and secular music,
Jarekus soon developed his motto for life;
"live free or die." He continued to play basketball and arrived at church afterwards,
determined to follow where his heart led.
"Music and basketball were my life," he
said. He won a basketball scholarship to
the University of Southern Mississippi and
played music whenever he had time. A hip
hop fan with rapping talent, he composed
hip hop hits that played continuously on
the campus radio station. He never considered music as a career until he suffered
an ankle injury trying out for the NBA.
"My uncle took me to a club when I
was 15 and I heard a local artist playing
"I'll Play The Blues For You." He told me
that was an Albert King song and I wantContinued on page 52
18 illinoisentertainer.com september 2014