Castro Coleman
aka "Mr. Sipp" -- The Mississippi Blues Child -- was born in the small town of McComb, Mississippi to
Johnell
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 6 which is when he started playing the guitar.
In 2014, Coleman was the winner of the International Blues Challenge (Band), the
Albert King Gibson
Guitar award, BMA Best New Artist Album winner 2016, The Spirit of Little Walter Award 2016. In 2016, Coleman was the first blues artist to have his handprint inducted into the Wall of Fame in Fredrikshavn Denmark. In 2014, Coleman was given the
Bobby Rush
Entertainer of the Year Award by the Jus' Blues Foundation. In 2015, he won several Jackson Music Awards including International Male Blues Artist, Blues Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year.
Coleman started out playing the gospel with his aunt Grace Cain. Then he later started his own group,
The True Believers
, which launched them in the gospel music industry with their album
In This Place.
After The True Believers, Coleman joined the
Williams Brothers
and started playing on and with other national recording artists such as
The Pilgrim Jubilees, Spencer Taylor and the Highway QC's, Rev. Rance Allen, The Texas Boys, Brian Courtney Wilson, The Jackson Southernaires and The Canton Spirituals.
After that he later 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. Coleman has won many awards in the gospel industry and has over 125 credits listed on Allmusic.
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 made it to the finals. He went back and won the regional competition in the fall of 2013 won again and back to Memphis in 2014.
Currently Coleman has and is touring all over the world. He has brought the blues to Hong Kong, Brazil, Denmark, Spain Switzerland, Belgium, France, Scotland, and The Netherlands just to name a few.
Coleman is endorsed by Epiphone, Ernie Ball Strings, Peavey, Mono, Nord, 64 Audio, and Humes and Berg. He was cast in the
James Brown
biography (movie) "Get on Up" as the first guitar player for Mr. Brown playing the role of
Les Buie.
He has most recently joined the cast of CMT's "Sun Records" as a young B B King.
Coleman is on the roster of the Mississippi Arts Commission. He conducts programs in area schools teaching the young and old about the blues.
(Article credit: www.mrsipptmbc.net)
