Castro "Mr. Sipp" Coleman

Castro "Mr. Sipp" Coleman. An American Gospel and Blues Artist. , Castro Coleman, aka "Mr. Sipp," is the rare artist who has managed to simultaneously achieve acclaim as both a gospel and blues artist. A child prodigy from family of gospel musicians, he first gained national attention with his group the True Believers and as the guitarist for the legendary Williams Brothers. In 2012 Coleman drew upon his considerable skills as a guitarist, vocalist and performer to embark on a new path in the blues as "Mr. Sipp the Mississippi Blues Child"., Born in McComb on August, 25 1976, Coleman grew up in nearby Gradyville, began playing guitar at six, and was soon playing at both St. Joseph the Church of the Living God and the St. Mark Spiritual Church. His parents Johnell and Vera had a gospel group, the Star Lights, and by eight Coleman was the guitarist in his aunt's group, Grace Cain and the Mellonettes, who toured across the South., In high school Coleman played in the gospel group Vibe, and in 1995 founded the True Believers, which became a leading gospel quartet. The group recorded for the Blackberry label, owned by the Williams Brothers, who hired Coleman to work with their group. Castro Coleman and the Highly Favored de- buted in 2006, and recorded multiple albums for Jackson- based gospel and southern soul label Malaco Records., In 2012 Coleman decided to enter a blues contest in Vicksburg, which led to placing in the finals at the International Blues Competition in Memphis in 2013 and winning the contest the following year. He quickly created a repertoire of original songs, began touring across North America, in Europe and Asia, and recorded multiple blues albums for Malaco., As "Mr. Sipp" he received critical acclaim via the Blues Music Awards, Living Blues Awards, and the Jus Blues Foundation, as well as the Jackson Music Awards, where Coleman has been the recipient of both blues and gospel awards., He appeared in the James Brown biopic "Get On Up!," played B.B. King in the TV series "Sun Records" and contributed an original song to the film "Texas Red." In addition to spending time with his children and grandchildren, Coleman still tours the world as a blues and gospel artist.