Robert Kimbrough Sr. continues the Cotton Patch Soul Blues style created by his father, the legendary Junior Kimbrough. From an early age, Robert was steeped in the sounds and life of North Mississippi and its distinctive blues styles. Growing up, Robert listened first-hand to Mississippi blues royalty that played with his father at home, at Junior’s juke joint club, and the ever-frequent weekend house parties and porch jam sessions. The blues was simply part of everyday life as a Kimbrough. Robert continues his father’s tradition. The Kimbrough name, along with the Burnside name, is part of a blues dynasty that remains strong today, bringing people worldwide to see and hear them play. Robert’s Cotton Patch Soul Blues style is a link to the music his father originated in North Mississippi. It is a deep soul sound that can be linked to the sounds of his ancestors coming from the cotton fields as field hands, singing out as they worked in the rows of Mississippi cotton. This distinct and somewhat underground blues style is rooted in a foundation of hypnotic, droning rhythms and extremely dance-able drum beats. Until the mid-80s, the only way to hear this music was to visit a church-turned-blues-den founded by Junior Kimbrough in Chulahoma, MS, which unfortunately burned down in 2000.

Robert Kimbrough Sr.’s musical journey started at an early age and took him to Illinois, where he lived and played for a few years. He then returned to Holly Springs, MS, to play with his dad, focus on his music, and tour with Junior in 1996. Shortly after, he wrote all the tracks for his first release, Willey Woot. Robert became focused solely on sharing his family’s unique style of cotton patch soul blues under his new moniker – Blues Connection – as one of the hardest-working guys in the blues business. To keep Cotton Patch Soul Blues alive, he launched the annual Cotton Patch Soul Blues Festival in Holly Springs, MS, which draws hundreds of people from around the US and the world. The Kimbrough Cotton Patch Soul Blues Festival is a three-day interactive music event held in Holly Springs, Ms., which celebrates the life and legacy of my father, David “Junior ” Kimbrough, and my brother, David Kimbrough Jr. 3rd. I invite anyone to Holly Springs for the weekend to learn about our family’s unique Blues style and experience the Kimbrough way of life as a North Mississippi Cotton Patch Soul Blues Boy.