“I am just out here playing in the sun, still a little kid who shows up to work happy every day.

We didn’t have money for extras like music lessons, so I taught myself how to play. If I had asked my mama for $200 to play the trumpet, she would have laughed at me. It wasn’t realistic. But I love everything about music, so I got a cheap guitar and figured it out.

I turned 18 and joined the Air Force to get out of Mobile and earn enough money to become a full-time musician. I was stationed at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and became a broadcast journalist. My grandmother, Renee Dials, was one of the first Black female journalists in Alabama.

On a Saturday in November 2017, I took a 6-hour train trip to Penn Station in New York City. I went to the Paris Blues club in Harlem that was owned by Mr. Sam from Demoplis, Alabama. I had my guitar, and Mr. Sam invited me on stage to sit in. That was my first time playing with professionals. As soon as I touched the blues, that was it. The music was immediately familiar. I returned to the Paris Blues almost every weekend for two years, sometimes playing for tips in Central Park with my shitty guitar before going to the club. Mr. Sam welcomed me onto his stage over and over again. I knew that was a special time, and it was influencing my music.

I left the Air Force and moved to New Orleans because they were the first to reopen bars after COVID. I put a band together, and we made a record and a little money. It worked.

I returned to Mobile last summer because this is home, and my family is still here. My biological dad was a rapper from Mobile named Tyrese. If you went to the skating rinks around town, you knew his song: ‘This is how we ride when we roll out’. He passed away last year.

Storytelling and music were passed down through my family, and I want to make music that makes people feel something. I have written thousands of songs—a lot of them went into the trash, but some worked. On stage, I play the blues and tell the truth. Everyone understands the blues because we have all been sad. Writing music helps me process trauma, emotions, and tension of life.

I love being a part of the music community in Mobile. We are a collaborative family who help each other, and there are places for all of us to play.

The name of my band is Deadman Medicine. We play heavy, dirty, electric blues with some brass. The music is so good that we can bring a deadman back to life. “