The Delta Gets Real Week 13: Traveling Blues

In this week of The Delta Gets Real, our reporter Andranita Williams shows us how there's royalty right here in the delta.

Nicknamed "The Prince of the Delta Blues," Keith Johnson has a goal to keep traditional blues music traveling through generations.

'He's always been talented," says his older brother Keitarus Johnson. "I m pretty sure he ll have much success in the future."

To this musician, music is being able to heal someone emotionally.

27- year- old Keith Johnson is one of the young traditional blues musicians in the delta. He describes his style as a mixture of gospel and blues, with much influence from a family connection.

Having my blues connection by muddy waters being my great uncle as well, I started studying him and trying to perform his style of music along with delta musicians like B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf.

Johnson travels the world performing and preserving a style of music he says is a part of his roots.

"We have to take ownership of it," he says. We rarely have not young musicians, but young African-American musicians playing traditional blues music."

Keith says it s an honor to be in the delta playing alongside other young musicians and inspiring the next generation.

" You don't see many young people working with the blues so that s kinda having a huge impact," his older brother says. "Maybe he'll probably influence somebody younger."

Alongside members of the big muddy band and through twice as nice management, Keith Johnson plans to preserve traditional blues.

"We have a group of young people that are accompanying me on this journey of preserving blues music and preserving the history of it," Johnson says.

When he's not performing, Keith enjoys teaching children their numbers and alphabet through puppetry