Singer draws on struggles to croon the blues - Contemporary Blues Women Articles

Singer draws on struggles to croon the blues
By Rodger Mullen
The Fayetteville Observer

When Janiva Magness sings the blues, she has a lifetime of experience to draw from. By the time she was 16, both of her parents had committed suicide. She was a teenage mother who lived on the streets, shuttling between 12 foster homes in two years.

But Magness persevered, eventually discovering the music that would be her salvation. Today, she's at the top of her game. She was named the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the Blues Music Awards ceremony in May.

"Absolutely, my childhood informs my music and my craft," Magness said. "I am grateful that there's a use for all that craziness and all that struggle."

Magness will sing Saturday at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines for the eighth annual Blues Crawl.

Born in Detroit and raised throughout the Midwest, Magness' first exposure to music was the blues and country she heard listening to her father's record collection.

After her parents' deaths. She gave her daughter up for adoption but they have since reconnected. With the help of one of her foster parents, Magness became a legally emancipated minor.

A job at a recording studio led to work as a background singer. In the early 1980s, Magness moved to Phoenix and formed the locally popular band Janiva Magness and the Mojomatics. She has since cut several records on independent labels. Her most recent album, "What Love Will Do," was released last year.

Magness eventually came to terms with her troubled past and became involved in foster parent issues. While she describes herself as a private person, Magness said she decided to open up about her past after being encouraged by people close to her.

"It's the idea that we can have that kind of struggle and survive, not only survive but succeed and come out the other side and actually have a happy life," she said.

Magness believes she's a living example of that idea and says she is no longer defined by her past. Music has played a role in that process. Last year, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait to perform for American troops in "Bluzapalooza." Performing in a war zone put things in perspective.

"There was more than one occasion that we had to evacuate because there were bombs coming in," Magness said. "I mess up in my show and life goes on. They screw up in their jobs, and it's a whole other can of worms."
Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at mullenr@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.