Troy Turner Blues Band

Some artists do their best to interpret the blues. Blues singer and guitarist Troy Turner has lived them. Born in Louisiana in 1970 and raised in Baton Rouge, Troy first started singing in the Starhill Baptist Church choir at the age of five. Already he was an orphan of sorts. His father died in a tragic car accident when Troy was three; his mother was clinically depressed and living in an institution during most of his childhood. His paternal grandparents Edna Mae, a respected gospel singer, and Henry, raised Troy. They were the first to recognize his musical talent. Edna Mae sent him to school to learn to play the several instruments, including the sousaphone and the guitar, but balked when she heard him play the blues, a genre she still thought of as “the devil’s music.” It wasn’t long before Troy was sneaking out of the house at night to hang with the late harmonica master Raful Neal, who had famously played with Buddy Guy in the blues band The Clouds, and jam at local clubs like Tabby’s Blues Box, Byron’s and Soweto’s. Customers were so taken with his youthful appearance the nicknamed him “baby face.” He may have been young, but he’s always claimed to have an “old soul.” In fact, he says with a smile that he’s really 84. Troy was a huge Prince fan in high school. He dressed like the Purple One in high school, even thought of himself as a Southern version of the Minnesota superstar. He attacked songs with an aggressive style that earned him another moniker—Troy Turner, guitar burner. His sound was so recognizable, people could tell who was playing the moment he struck the first note whether they could see him or not. Troy could easily have been the “sharp dressed man” in ZZ Top’s song because his look (complete with handful of aces hat, tailored suits, flashy belt buckles and boots) was as distinctive as his sound. One night at Soweto’s, his grandmother Edna Mae marched in, broomstick in hand, to escort a mortified 14-year-old Troy home. Troy left Baton Rouge for New Orleans in 1988, and quickly became a regular fixture on the scene. For the next five years he wowed audiences at Tipitina’s, House of Blues, Maple Leaf, Carrolton Station and Rock’n’Bowl. Though he bled the blues, he also got hooked on funk and his fascination with the work of R&B artists like Prince, Rick James and The Time caused him to begin experimenting with different styles during his nearly-nightly gigs.