Blues Search Engine: Carl Weathersby

Carl Weathersby’s life, just like his music is a mixture of two influences: his life, urban and rural, his music, soul and blues. Carl Weathersby was born in 1953 in Jackson, Mississippi, but relocated before his first birthday with his family to rural Meadeville, Mississippi. Carl Weathersby would spend his pre-teenage years here growing accustomed to the life so many blues greats have in common. At the age of 13, Carl Weathersby’s family relocated once again, but this time north, to East Chicago, Indiana, the community he calls home today. It is hard to identify Carl Weathersby’s formative years musically since essentially his entire youth was that. Carl Weathersby grew up in a musical extended family. His first instrument was the drums, as that was the instrument of choice of many of his relatives, but about the time he moved north to Indiana, he switched to guitar for good. Carl Weathersby grew up wanting to be a Temptation, but still remained immersed in the blues of his elders. A seminal influence on Carl Weathersby during his teenage years was a friend of the family: none other than Albert King. Carl Weathersby would later spend several years in his band. In between his youth and becoming a professional musician, Carl Weathersby had several lifetimes’ worth of experience. He served several years in the army, and saw duty in Vietnam. He was a steel mill worker in Indiana, a policeman in Louisiana, and a prison guard to boot. But Carl Weathersby’s life calling was to become a musician, a trade he has now practiced for most of his adult life. After three years with Albert King, from 1979 to 1981, Carl Weathersby joined the Sons of Blues, fronted by harmonica ace Billy Branch, with whom he remained for the next fourteen years before going out on his own. From 1996 to 2002 Carl Weathersby released four highly acclaimed CDs on Evidence. During this time, Carl Weathersby came to be regarded as one of the most electrifying live performers in music, not only for his ferocious guitar solos, but also for the break-neck energy he packs into every live performance. A serious illness forced Carl Weathersby to take a step back from music just a few years ago, but after a period of introspection and recovery, he is back and stronger than ever with what many are saying is his best recording to date, Hold On. On this seminal recording, Carl Weathersby weaves all the separate strands of his life—his rural roots and his urban existence, his passion for not only soul and blues, but for soulful blues—into a rich musical tapestry that ranks him as an artist of the first order.