FRUTELAND JACKSON

    Fruteland es uno de los pocos estadounidenses dedicados a la realización y conservación de blues acústico en sus diferentes estilos (tradicional o contemporánea). Desde los  hollers a los estilos del  Delta y Piamont. Fruteland es un cantante / compositor y educador que actúa en festivales de blues, centros culturales y clubes de todo el mundo. Sus canciones van desde baladas de blues y el folk y las normas del Evangelio y lo que él se refiere como blues "baby-boom". Muchas de sus obras originales combinan temas contemporáneos jugado en el espíritu de los Blues  de primeros músicos en los estilos clásicos. Fruteland se llama a sí mismo como un activista de los Blues e historiador oral dedicado a la promoción de la conciencia a través de la educación mediante la realización de Blues en los programas de Escuelas. "El señor Fruteland," como se le conoce por los estudiantes va desde la educación excepcional al  desafia emocional pasado por los estudiantes de alto riesgo, así como las zonas económicamente deprimidas .

Fruteland Jackson nació junio 9,1953, en el condado de Sunflower, Mississippi, el cuarto hijo de seis. Él fue criado en una familia musical y va iglesia. Sus abuelos maternos, Willie y Anna Bradley son fundadores de una iglesia en Doddsville, MS., El MB Iglesia del Nuevo Jericó, y los dos testimonios que viven a las tradiciones orales de la familia que se remontan a la esclavitud. 

El abuelo paterno de Fruteland fue un prominente ministro bautista, el reverendo RL Chandler de Inverness, Mississippi. Cincuenta años después de la creación de su primera iglesia, que aún tenía cinco de sus miembros originales. El Chandler anciano vivió hasta los 96 años de edad y tiene un parque público y una calle con su nombre en su honor, que se encuentra en Indianola e Inverness, MS. Él fue enterrado en 1982. Los padres de Fruteland John Andrew e Ida B. (ambos fallecidos) eran como muchos otros negros que viven en el sur a principios de 1950. Se dirigieron hacia el norte a Chicago en busca de un mejor empleo, los derechos civiles y educación para su creciente familia. 

                                  

                             
                       

                                   

Fruteland Jackson (born June 9, 1953) is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Henry Townsend stated, "My respect for Fruteland Jackson is very high. He and my boy Alvin Youngblood Hart is the future sound of true acoustic blues." He has also worked with children to raise awareness of blues music and has been honored for his work in that field, including in 1997 being granted a W. C. Handy Award for "Keeping the Blues Alive" in Education.

Jackson was born in Doddsville, Mississippi, the son of an insurance underwriter, and he relocated with his family to Chicago in the 1960s in order to secure better employment and education outlooks. His father was employed by North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, and his mother worked as a nurse at Chicago's Cook County Hospital. He received his first guitar from his uncle when aged 12, and played in high school band before receiving further education at Roosevelt University. Jackson got married and worked as a private investigator then for the Illinois Department of Human Rights. By the mid 1980s, Jackson had relocated to Biloxi, Mississippi. His wholesale seafood business, Camel Seafood Company, was destroyed by Hurricane Elena, and Jackson immersed himself in blues music, inspired by the work of William R. Ferris. He learnt the music of Johnny Shines, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and the earlier Robert Johnson songs, with the view of working as an educator, activist and musician.

Jackson appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival and Boundary Waters Blues Festival, as well as working in schools across the United States. He perfected two presentation styles to educate children about blues music, and he was known as Mr. Fruteland by those who he taught. Jackson worked with the Blues Foundation to create a teaching program called "All About the Blues". In 1996 the Illinois Arts Council granted him their Folk/Ethnic Heritage Award. The Blues Foundation followed by naming Jackson as a recipient of their 'Keeping the Blues Alive Award. book, Guitar Roots: Delta Blues - The roots of great guitar playing. He has also penned a one-act play entitled, The Life and Times of Robert Johnson.

Also in 1999, Jackson was signed to a recording contract by Electro-Fi Records. Claim Nothing But the Blues (2000), was followed by Blues 2.0 (2003).The latter was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award, and the magazine, Blues Revue named it "one of the finest blues albums of this young decade."Tell Me what You Say was Jackson's latest album release in 2006.

He remains based in Chicago.