By Lyndsi Naron (with permission from The Bolivar Bullet)
Ten year old, Abee Miranda Hudson, is one of the youngest blues musicians to have come from the Mississippi Delta. According to Abee’s father, Abe Hudson, he and his wife, Adrienne, had no idea what they were unleashing when they decided to sign their four year old daughter up for a ukulele class.
“When I was learning, they said that my fingers were too small,” said Abee. “My dad began taking me to a school in Jackson when I was four, but it was very far away. Then he saw an advertisement on Facebook for Chris Park’s Minnie’s School of Music in Merigold. Ever since then, I’ve been working on a guitar with Mr. Keith Johnson, Prince of the Blues, because they did not have ukulele.”
“My wife is an educator, and I’m a private consultant,” said Abe. “Our home is, by nature, demanding. My wife and I both hold education in very high regard, and expect her to challenge herself.”
Although Abee is sure her parents would have let her stop playing if she didn’t like it, she said she has never even considered it.
Abee is currently in the fourth grade at Kirkpatrick Health and Medical Science Magnet Elementary School in Clarksdale. She is a part of the gifted program and a member of the basketball team. She also attends lessons at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale in addition to her lessons at Minnie’s School of Music.
“Abee is a good guitar player, and she’s probably the most advanced, longest-running student we have,” said Chris Parks, founder of Minnie’s School of Music. “Her parents have put a great investment in her, and she has a gift. She is very versatile and has had challenging instructors, specifically Mr. Johnson. He has done a great job with her, so we want to really push her.”
Parks said she is so advanced that she can even “carry two to three, forty-five minute sets on her own.”
“It just comes naturally,” added Abe. “We had no idea she would be here, and one of the best decisions we ever made was enrolling her at Minnie’s School of Music. Chris Parks, as well as Keith Johnson, have been absolutely amazing.”
After a few years of training, Johnson asked Abee to step out of her comfort zone.
“They had recitals, and I performed at the recitals,” said Abee. “But after I turned eight, Mr. Keith asked me to come on down to this blues club, Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, to play with him.”
By age nine, Abee had begun performing at Red’s Blues Club in Clarksdale playing with and sometimes opening up for with Anthony “Big A” Sherrod, Heather Cross, and Lee Williams.
“Now that I’m ten, I’ve started performing on my own, with a band, or with one of my Delta Blues Museum classmates, Javari Sanders, who plays percussion,” said Abee.
Abee is extremely grateful for all the people who have poured into her journey so far, especially the unique experiences and opportunities she has been given.
“Now that I’ve done a lot of performances, and I turned ten, I am not nervous,” said Abee. “But before, when Mr. Keith would call my name on stage, I would be overwhelmed.”
Abe shared that he rarely has issues getting his daughter to practice. She not only practices guitar, which is her favorite instrument, but she has also learned a few tunes on the bass guitar and piano as well as the drums thanks to Minnie’s School of Music and Delta Blues Museum.
“She typically does not cringe when it’s time to practice,” said Abe. “Of course, she has days where she may not be as excited, but once she sits down and begins to play, if the requirement is for her to play twenty minutes, she’ll play for forty once she gets started.”
“She enjoys challenging herself,” said Abe. “We’ve been so fortunate to have other people who enjoy music just as much as she does, who give her the space and are willing to practice with her. I would attribute a lot of her growth to that.”
Abee shared that her favorite part about music is the vibrations she feels through the speakers, but she truly loves “entertaining people and making them smile.”
Over the course of her short career, Abee has performed almost fifty shows, with seventeen of those being in the last month. Some of those performances include: Delta Blues Museum events, the Juke Joint Festival, the Sunflower Riverfest, the King Biscuit Blues Festival, and many other venues across the delta.
“She’s performed in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas,” added Abe. “It’s been a fun journey.”
Abee’s goals for the future are to making an album, going on tour, winning a Grammy, and performing during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
She recently released her first single, entitled “Nothing Like Christmas,” which is available on all streaming platforms.
While she has taken to calling herself the “Delta Blues Princess”, Abee also plays other genres, including: pop, hip hop, gospel, soul,, R&B, and reggae.
“I like being a blues artist because it shows where I’m from,” said Abee.
Abee can play over ninety songs suitable for both children and adult audiences. Anyone interesting in booking her can email info@ therealdelta.com, or call 662-336-5865, for additional information.
“Abee is certainly willing to travel, and certainly excited about her budding career as well as the opportunities that continue to present themselves,” said Abe.
In Abee’s free time, she enjoys reading, playing tennis, and spending time with her family and friends. She also recently found a love for acting when she starred in the Delta Center Stage Theater’s performance of Matilda this past summer in Greenville.
If you are a fan and would like to keep up with Abee’s future endeavors, you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook, @deltabluesprincess.
