Jarekus Singleton puts his own stamp on the blues

By Clinton Courier | June 25, 2021 |

At 35 years old, Jarekus Singleton has been described as a musical trailblazer with a bold vision for the future of the blues. His cutting-edge sound – equally rooted in rap, rock and blues traditions – is all his own. He melds hip-hop wordplay, rock energy and R&B grooves with contemporary and traditional blues, turning audiences of all ages into devoted fans. With his untamed guitar licks and strong, soulful voice effortlessly moving from ferocious and funky to slow and steamy to smoking hot, Singleton is known as a fresh, electrifying bluesman bursting at the seams with talent.

Singleton’s debut album, Refuse To Lose, features original songs all sung with a natural storyteller’s voice. Produced by Singleton along with Alligator Records’ president Bruce Iglauer and recorded at PM Music in Memphis, the album has been lauded as an impossible-to-ignore first step onto the world stage.

Singleton has performed at clubs and festivals across the U.S. and Canada, including two times at the world-renowned Chicago Blues Festival, as well as at Springing the Blues Festival in Florida, Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco, the North Atlantic Blues Festival, the PA Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Heritage Music Blues Festival, the Cincinnati Blues Festival, and the Festival International du Blues de Tremblant in Quebec.

Born into a family of church musicians and vocalists on July 11, 1984, in Clinton, Singleton was immersed in gospel music as a child. Taught by his uncle, he began playing bass guitar at age nine in his grandfather’s church band. He later switched to lead guitar and began to sharpen his instrumental and vocal skills,
falling in love with the music of all three Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie) as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan, rappers Twista and Jay-Z, and even country artist Brad Paisley. In his late teens, Singleton pursued a career in basketball, becoming a top-seeded national player in college until an injury took him back to his music full time.

For a short period, he performed as a rap artist, writing his own lyrics. Before long, though, he began combining his rap wordsmithing with the music of his Mississippi heritage, creating a modern, updated take on the blues. In 2009, he formed The Jarekus Singleton Blues Band and self-released his first CD, Heartfelt, in 2011. Three tracks from that CD continue to play in regular rotation on B.B. King’s Bluesville on SiriusXM Radio, the most-listened-to blues radio station in the world.

Singleton was named a “star on the rise” by Blues & Rhythm magazine in the UK. Guitar Center named him the 2011 King of the Blues in Mississippi. He received the Jackson Music Award for 2012 Blues Artist of the Year and for 2013 Local Artist of the Year. The Jackson Free Press named him the 2013 Best Local Blues Artist. Living Blues praised Singleton for his “emotional intensity,” saying he “blends styles and elements across genres and generations.”

Audiences at his shows run the gamut from older blues fans to younger rockers and rap aficionados, all of whom call him their own.

“Blues is honest music,” says Singleton, who, with Refuse To Lose, is determined to put his own stamp on the genre. “I love the blues tradition, and have always been inspired by the masters. But I want to create something for today’s audience that is as original and new as those blues masters were when they first started making records. I want to create blues for the 21st century.”