Valerie June - "You Can't Be Told"

"This is my New York City music video which is appropriate because I never really played the blues when I lived in Memphis. I had written only one blues song in Memphis. Everything else was roots, rock and country. It wasn’t until I got invited to do monthly a residency at Terra Blues in Manhattan that I started playing the blues. I sat in with a fella named Junior Mack. The owner of the club was there and loved my sound. He’d heard I was from down south and asked ‘how’d you like to do a residency here once a month?’ I said, ‘well, what would I have to do exactly?’ He said, ‘can you play two hours of straight blues music?’ That’s when I lied. I told him yes and went home and prayed for the lawd to send me some blues songs. I was starving with medical bills that had wiped me out and physically so sick with chronic illness that I had no energy to stand for longer than 30 minutes, so working and getting a job was a problem. Luckily, at the residency I got to sit down and play for those two hours. It’s also lucky that I made enough in that gig once a month to pay the rent. (And he didn’t fire me when I’d squeeze in a country song; This is a part of my story... a story I’ve lived and though I can try to tell ya, you can’t be told!"