Agnes Sutherland Naquin
September 30, 2008October 2
October 2, 2008
Bobby Rush, one of the best-known blues singers in the country, was born in Houm…uh, Homer, in north Louisiana, but that doesn’t keep him from expressing his support for people in the southern part of the state following hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
“I travel all over the world and can tell you the hardest-working people I know anywhere with the best come-back spirit are in south Louisiana,” Rush said.
Rush, known for dynamic stage shows interjected with signature comedy bits, will be appearing for one night only at the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse square on Friday, Oct. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is free.
Houma Main Street manager Anne Picou received a grant from Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu’s Office to cover all the costs of Rush’s appearance as part of the World Cultural Economic Forum.
Modeled on similar festivals held in Europe, the forum was launched last year by the Lt. Governor’s Office to promote Louisiana culture, but all of the events – including Carnaval Latino in New Orleans and Eat Lafayette – took place in the state’s biggest cities.
Smaller cities complained, Picou said.
“To make everybody happy, the lieutenant governor came up with grants,” she said. “They offered us different acts and gave us an idea of who we could have.”
The 68-year-old Rush is used to spreading around his brand of blues – a signifying, joking style he calls “folk funk” – to a wide audience. In the 1980s, Rush became known as “King of the Chitlins Circuit.”
“Several times a year, Bobby, when his schedule permits, makes himself available for personal appearances and performances in communities that couldn’t usually afford a performer with his history to help with economic development and cultural awareness,” said Rush spokesman and collaborator, Bobby Sivils. “His performance in Houma is an example of that commitment.”
Sivils, who helped write Houma’s grant application and who will provide the sound system for Rush’s appearance, said Rush is “a wonderful songwriter. Folks that enjoy more traditional blues will enjoy his show.”
As a child in Homer, Rush’s first instruments were a sugarcane syrup bucket and the one-stringed diddley bow.
Citing as some of his influences Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Ray Charles, Rush moved north and had a successful blues recording career starting in the late 1950s.
But his bawdy style – his stage shows usually came with shake dancers – really rose to prominence in the blues world during the 1970s with recordings like “Chicken Heads,” “Gotta Be Funky,” “Bow-Legged Woman, Knock-Kneed Man,” “Niki Hoeky,” and “I Wanna Do the Do,” the latter from the 1979 Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff-produced LP “Rush Hour.”
The double entendres brimmed over on 1984’s “Gotta Have Money” and 1985’s “What’s Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander.”
Rush’s latest release, 2007’s “Raw,” has him playing acoustic blues guitar and harmonica, while tapping his foot on an amplified board. The minimalist recording gained him Best Acoustic Album, Best Acoustic Musician and Male Soul Vocalist distinctions at the Blues Foundation Awards in Tunica, Miss. in May, 2008.
Rush lives in Jackson, Miss.
