He dropped out of school at age 11, lost three children to sickle cell anemia, suffered burns in a fire at his BBQ restaurant, walked away from a bus crash that killed a bandmate, did a prison stint for unwittingly transporting a promoter’s cocaine, endured COVID at age 86 and admitted in his new autobiography that he cheated on his wife.
If inveterate bluesman Bobby Rush survived all these challenges, he won’t be fazed by January in Minnesota.
“It’s just another winter’s day for me. I lived for 48 years in Chicago,” Rush said this month from his home in Jackson, Miss., where it was 71 degrees.
Although known as the King of the Chitlin’ Circuit, Rush returns to the spiffy Dakota in downtown Minneapolis Friday and Saturday with his acoustic show, not his legendary revue with dancers and full band.
“I love the acoustic dates ’cause I get close to ’em [fans] and I can talk to ’em. I can almost touch ’em with my hand. Put my kneecaps on ’em. It’s one-on-one,” said the 88-year-old motormouth, a singer/guitarist/harmonica player with the energy of someone one-fourth his age.
“I do the same kind of songs whether it’s a big band or a small band. I still tell the same kind of stories. I got my two big feet — that’s my drum — and my thumb is my bass, and my fingers are my guit-tar.
“So, you have me, myself and I.”
READ FULL STAR TRIBUNE FEATURE HERE >>
BY: JON BREAM
PHOTO: BILL STEBER
FRI + SAT • JAN 28-29 • 7PM
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