Castro Coleman
Castro Coleman[1] aka "Mr. Sipp The Mississippi Blues Child" (born August 25, 1976) is an American blues and gospel singer, musician, songwriter and guitarist. He was the 2014 International Blues Challenge winner.[2][3]
Biography
Castro Coleman was born in the small town of Magnolia, Mississippi, United States, to Jonell and the late Vera Coleman. He is a husband and father of four daughters. He has been around music all of his life. His parents and aunt had a quartet group. He was influenced by B. B. King at the age of six, which is when he started playing the guitar.
Coleman started out playing the gospel with The Legendary Williams Brothers, The Canton Spirituals and The Pilgrim Jubilees. He later started his own group The True Believers which launched them in the gospel industry with their album In This Place. After The True Believers, he started Castro Coleman and Highly Favored which again proved successful in the gospel industry, with television appearances on Bobby Jones Gospel. Their album Time Out gained national attention.[4]
In 2012, Coleman decided that he wanted to venture over into the blues genre. He competed in the regional competition in the fall of 2012 and won. He then went to compete in Memphis in January 2013 where he made it to the finals. He went back and won the regional competition in the fall of 2013; won again and was back in Memphis in 2014 to triumph at the International Blues Challenge.
On February 1, 2019, Castro and his group, The True Believers released a new album and DVD Back To The Roots.[5]
Awards and endorsements
Coleman has won numerous awards, including:
- Bobby Rush 2014 Entertainer of the Year Award by the Jus' Blues Foundation[6]
- 2015 International Male Blues Artist, 41st Annual Jackson Music Awards[7]
- 2015 Blues Artist of the Year, 41st Annual Jackson Music Awards[7]
- 2015 Entertainer of the Year, 41st Annual Jackson Music Awards[7]
- Best Blues Album of 2017 New Recordings (Contemporary Blues) (for "Knock a Hole In It" Malaco Records), 25th Annual Living Blues Awards[8]
- 2018 Gospel Group of the Year (with The True Believers), Mississippi Gospel Music Award[9]
- 2018 National Blues Artist of The Year, 44th Annual Jackson Music Awards[10]
Coleman has over 125 credits listed on AllMusic.
Coleman has given workshops for Epiphone[11] He is endorsed by Ernie Ball,[12] Nord, and Humes and Berg.
Other projects
He is on the roster of the Mississippi Arts Commission.[13] He conducts programs in the area schools teaching the young and old about the blues. His latest album The Mississippi Blues Child on the Malaco Records Label debuted at No. 6 on the Living Blues Charts and made the Top 50 for the 2015 year. He has been nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category of New Artist Album Debut.
He was cast in Get on Up as the first guitar player for James Brown, playing the role of Les Buie.[14]
In 2018, Coleman opened his own blues club known as Sipp's Place in Magnolia, Mississippi. The club was working great and the food was delicious. People from all over the world were visiting the club enjoying great live Blues or Gospel shows. Unfortunately he had to close it in November 2019.
In 2019, among his blues tours and blues club in Magnolia, Castro Coleman came back to gospel with The True Believers.[15] After a few years, Castro Coleman and The True Believers released Back to the Roots, recorded live in April 2018 at Prince Of Peace Church, Blytheville, Arkansas. It was released on February 1, 2019.
Discography
Castro Coleman (Mr. Sipp) - The Mississippi Blues Child
- 2013, It's My Guitar
- 2015, The Mississippi Blues Child
- 2017, Knock a Hole In It
The True Believers
- 2018, Back to the Roots (CD)
- 2019, Back to the Roots (DVD)
References
- "Mr. Sipp TMBC". mrsipp.net. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- "Blues Reviews". Mary4music.com. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
- "Official homepage". mrsipp.net. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- "Time Out!!! - Castro Coleman, Highly Favored | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- "Back To The Roots : TRUE BELIEVERS (Artist) Format: Audio CD". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
- "2014 Jus Blues AWARDS Magazine". Jusblues.org. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- "Jackson Music Awards honor top talent". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "25th Annual Living Blues Awards (2018)". Livingblues.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "OFFICIAL WINNERS MISSISSIPPI GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS 2018" (PDF). Jmaainc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Winners for the 44th Annual Jackson Music Awards 2018" (PDF). Jmaainc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Mr. Sipp "The Mississippi Blues Child" Blues Workshop In Hong Kong". Epiphone.com. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- "Ernie Ball Artists". Ca.ernieball.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Mr. Sipp – 'The Mississippi Blues Child'". Mississippi Arts Commission. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
- "Interview with IBC Winner Mr. Sipp". Mary4music.com. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- "The True Believers". Teamtb.net.