Continued from page 18
ed to play it immediately. It was the first
blues song that I learned to play. When I
had surgery on my ankle in 2009, I had to
move back to my mama's house. I took my
guitar and played "I'll Play The Blues For
You." I was down, out and hurt. I couldn't
play basketball anymore. Albert King
helped me get through that situation."
And so it was the three kings, Albert,
Freddy and B.B. that guided him to his
blues path. "They were aggressive guitar
players and great singers. I wanted to play
like them and connect with people like
they did," he explained. The three kings
influence are clear on the stinging, straight
ahead blues of "Suspicion" and the high
energy of "Come Wit Me," but another
blues hero shows up and is name checked
on the emotion-packed blues lament,
"Hell." "I watched Stevie Ray Vaughan
play "Little Wing" on Youtube for five
hours straight," he recalled. "He had passion, that man played straight from his
soul. It's like he took his heart and played
it on his guitar."
It's a lesson that Jarekus learned well.
"My main thing is making the music that's
in your heart, how you label it, th ]