In 1954, the eldest son of blues great McKinley Morganfield, otherwise known as Muddy Waters, Mud Morganfield (who has also gone by the name Muddy Waters Jr.), was born. He naturally grew up surrounded by music, and particularly the blues, and he’s played music all of his life, starting with the drums his dad gave him as a child, then moving on to the bass guitar.

Morganfield didn’t seriously consider being a professional blues musician until after Waters’ death in 1983, by which time Morganfield was already close to 30. Possessing a baritone voice very much like his father’s, and blessed with a similar sense of vocal phrasing and a sense of how to command a stage, Morganfield made up for lost time, cutting his teeth in the southside Chicago clubs where he was soon a popular draw on the blues club and festival circuit; he mixed both original songs and Muddy Waters classics into his live sets.

Morganfield says, “I started to sing to show the world that dad left me here. I love and am proud to sing his songs just like I love and will always be proud of him. I’m not Muddy Waters and I’m certainly not trying to be Muddy Waters. I’m Mud Morganfield but when I’m up on stage I always feel pops is there with me and it means so much that I can get on stage and keep his music alive around the world.”