haron Lewis is up in the hills just outside of Rome , Italy trying to score cigarettes . She ’ s riding around with Vincenza , a local who ’ s hosting her on this portion of her Italian tour , as well as stuffing her with chocolate gelato and homemade lasagna . She ’ s slightly hoarse from the cold she caught in Siberia a few days ago and she ’ s juggling our phone interview while she prepares for her next show . It ’ s all in a day ’ s work for an international blues woman . With the release of her vibrant new CD , Grown Ass Woman ( Delmark ). Sharon is spreading the sound and message of modern Chicago blues

By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates

Sharon Lewis

with the urgency that it deserves .

“ If I don ’ t get paid to sing another note , I won ’ t back down . I ’ m going to say what I mean and mean what I say ,” says Sharon about her no-holds-barred reputation for speaking the truth about blues culture . Never one to mince words , Sharon ’ s forthright personality comes through her powerful vocals as well as her songwriting . The album ’ s standout opening track , “ Can ’ t Do It Like We Do ,” a contagious celebration of Chicago blues culture , lays it all out for everyone to understand her points : “ I travel around the world / doing this thing we call the

blues / and everywhere I go / they try to imitate our groove / they can ’ t shuffle like Billy Branch / can ’ t slow blues like Magic Sam / if you think I ’ m being a snob / you ’ re right / because I am .” It ’ s all rolled into an upbeat blues romp that ’ s so much fun that the serious points almost melt into the rhythm . Almost but not quite .

“ Every time I played that song in Russia I got tickled ,” she says . “ They didn ’ t know what I was talking about .” But Sharon makes no excuses about the tune ’ s topic . “ This is black music . It ’ s a birthright . I ’ m sorry , you can ’ t claim it unless you have nappy hair ,” she insists , referencing another lyric from “ Can ’ t Do It Like We Do .” “ People will say , ‘ I ’ m a blues man .’ No you ’ re not , you ’ re a musician who plays blues . I ’ ve lost friends and gigs behind my philosophy ,” she admits . “ I ’ m not militant and I ’ m not racist . This music is my culture .”

It ’ s a culture that Sharon values and champions nonstop , although she came to it later in life . Growing up in a strict Christian home in Ft . Worth , Texas , her missionary grandmother groomed her on gospel music and blues was the ultimate devil ’ s music . She sang in church and never heard secular music until she was almost a teen . By the time she moved to Chicago as an adult , she still had a narrow view of blues . That all changed when a friend dragged her to the legendary South Side blues joint , Lee ’ s Unleaded Blues . There , Buddy and Pat Scott wiped out all her assumptions and she became absorbed with music ’ s power to heal and entertain . She realized that her nuanced , gospel- trained voice could also touch people outside of church and she started auditioning for local bands .

“ Steve Bramer discovered me in 1993 ,” she says . “ I answered an ad in The Reader

because they needed a singer . The band was called Under The Gun . I chose them because they did original music . I felt like I wanted to leave a footprint on this music .”

Originality continues to be a focus , Sharon wrote six of the 14 tunes on the album and guitarist Steve supplied another six , including the hard-hitting anthem “ Freedom .” With a chorus that charges “ Freedom can not be freedom / until freedom means freedom for everyone .” it tackles the violent reality that many people of color face , especially mother ’ s of sons . But Sharon discovered that the song transcends many boundaries . “ That song has been so accepted . In Russia , they love it , it got standing ovations . Everywhere I ’ ve played it , it ’ s accepted and understood .”

Besides upholding the blues legacy as protest music , Grown Ass Woman highlights the strength of black women , from the blues rock of “ Chicago Woman ,” the country blues of “ Old Man ’ s Baby ,” and the classic blues swagger of the title track , “ I wanted to celebrate black women with this CD because nobody else is ,” she says . “ If we don ’ t celebrate us , who else will ? In this political climate , it ’ s necessary , we deserve it .”

And blues fans deserve to hear Sharon Lewis . The CD offers up pure juke joint joy with “ Hell Yeah ,” where her band Texas Fire smokes with horn-driven melodies and the soaring B . B . King cover “ Why I Sing The Blues ” showcases Sharon ’ s blues belting . Grown Ass Woman is a memorable package of social political relevance and skillful musicianship that demonstrates the importance of blues culture beyond entertainment . “ That ’ s all I can do is put it out there , “ Sharon says . “ What they do with it is another matter .”