Terry Blade is an American singer-songwriter and music video director based in the Chicago metropolitan area.[1][2] He has released multiple studio albums, including American Descendant of Slavery, the Album (2021),[3]Neo Queer (2022),[4]Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper (2023),[5] and Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues (2025).[6]
His work frequently incorporates archival audio, explores themes of race, sexuality, and inter-generational memory,[5][7] and has been highlighted by reviewers for its minimalist production and baritone vocal delivery.[8][9]
Blade was born and raised in Washington, DC.[8] His family heritage is rooted in the American South; his grandparents were from the region, and his grandfather specifically hailed from Colerain, North Carolina.[7][4] He has stated that his great-grandfather was a sharecropper, and his grandfather was taken out of school at a young age to work.[7]
Blade has discussed regularly experiencing homophobia by the age of 12.[7] He has stated that growing up Black, gay, and gender non-conforming was "rough" and "one of the most painful experiences" he "didn't think [he] would survive".[7]
Blade relocated to Chicago, Illinois.[8] He later began keeping a private journal, and in 2020, began turning his journal entries into songs.[15]
Career
Blade debuted his acoustic demo "The Unloveable" on April 3, 2020; the track received a nomination at the 11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards[16] and later appeared as the opening song on his EP Misery, released on May 8, 2020.[17] That same year, he released the a cappella single "The 'Karen' Blues", which was described by musician Adeem the Artist as "witty and biting".[18]
Blade released his debut studio album, American Descendant of Slavery, the Album, on February 5, 2021.[3] Critics noted that the release combined folk, rock, and soul elements[19] with spoken word excerpts from the 1940s of formerly enslaved African Americans.[3][8]Adeem the Artist highlighted the album's track "MTF" for drawing parallels to real-world cases involving violence against black transgender women.[20] The Archives of African American Music and Culture included the album among its "February 2021 Black Music Releases of Note".[21] The album later won a Summit Creative Award for audio and a Graphis Award for cover art design.[22][23]
Blade released his second studio album, Neo Queer, on January 14, 2022.[4] Days later, he was featured on Frankie Francis's Amazing Afternoons broadcast on Amazing Radio.[24] Blade directed and produced a music video for the album's track "All Ways", which premiered at the Cyprus International Film Festival[25] and was shortlisted for a Berlin Commercial Award in the Cultural Impact category at the Berlin Commercial Festival.[26] Blade also directed and produced the music video for the album's song "Railroad Tracks", which later premiered at the Berlin Commercial Festival,[27] and won the award for Best Set Design at the Sarajevo Fashion Film Festival.[28]
Blade released his third studio album, Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper, on February 3, 2023.[39] The album's cover is a photograph of an African-American sharecropper, which was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1937 near Clarksdale, Mississippi.[40] Reviews noted the album for blending blues, gospel, and country to explore themes of family history and Southern Black identity.[41][5] The album received a nomination for Album of the Year: Folk/Americana at the Josie Music Awards, and was included on The Boot's list of "Most Wanted Music: 2023’s Country, Americana, Bluegrass and Folk Album Releases".[39][42] Blade later directed a music video for the album's track "Wasn't Mine", which premiered at the Sidewalk Film Festival in a public screening at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.[43]
Blade released the blues single "Tell 'Em" on January 3, 2025.[47] The song was distributed by Paris-based record label Groover and music distributor IDOL,[48] and added to the digital collection of the Médiathèque départementale de l'Ain in France.[49] Reviews described "Tell 'Em" as Blade's "folk-blues approach to protest music", and noted that the song's themes of oppression and racial injustice drew inspiration from "real-life cases like Cyntoia Brown and Isaiah Brown".[50][51]
Album Cover Art for Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues
Musician Ryan Cassata described Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues as "a historical preservation effort".[60] Reviews noted the album for its focus on Chicago blues history, with some highlighting Blade's cover performance of "That's All Right" by Arthur Crudup, which was originally recorded in Chicago in 1946.[6][61] Reviews also noted the album for incorporating archival interviews of Chicago blues figures such as Theresa Needham and Lefty Dizz, which were conducted in 1977 as part of the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project for the American Folklife Center.[51]
Some reviews of Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues likened Blade to English folklorist Cecil Sharp, noting that the project "is difficult to call a music album in the usual sense", and is "more of an ethnographic record, a historical archive of early blues than just another album".[62][63]Mystic Sons rated the album a 7 out of 10, with reviewer Chris Bound noting that the project "captur[es] the same simple, almost live, performances that the genre is most known for".[64]Country Universe rated the album a 4.5 out of 5, with reviewer Jonathan Keefe noting that the project "works as brilliantly as a concept album about historical precedent as it does as an example of the vitality of the form itself".[65]
On May 21, 2025, Blade's cover performance of "That's All Right" was featured on the Amazing RadioFestival Pass broadcast of the Download Festival.[66] Two months later, Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues received a nomination for Historical or Vintage Recording at the Blues Blast Music Awards,[67] and was later shortlisted for Best Use of Music at the Epica Awards.[68] The project won a Clio Music Award for Use of Music Craft[11] and Use of Music Innovation,[69] a Shorty Impact Award for Arts & Culture,[12] an Anthem Award for Education, Art & Culture: Special Projects,[70] and a Cresta Award for Innovative Use of Sound/Audio.[71]
On November 21, 2025, Blade was included in Music Connection's "Top 25 New Music Critiques of 2025".[72] Two months later, Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues was included as an honorable mention in Country Universe's "The Forty Best Country Albums of 2025".[73] The project's companion website also won a Summit Digital Media Award for Website - Consumer.[74]
Blade's first book, Of Bloodlines and Blue Notes: Lyrics, Album Notes and Critical Essays, was published on January 19, 2026 and added to the digital collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.[75]
Musical style and influences
Blade's recordings draw from blues, soul, gospel, country, and folk traditions,[5][6] often arranged with sparse instrumentation and minimal production to emphasize his vocal delivery and narrative focus.[8][17] In describing his work, one critic wrote, "Give or take Adia Victoria, no one is doing more captivating work with Blues formalism these days than Blade."[65] Critics have also described Blade's work as rooted in Black American musical forms while incorporating contemporary singer-songwriter elements,[5][8] and several reviews have noted his use of documentary-style audio, including archival interviews and spoken-word recordings.[3][76]
Blade's projects frequently reference the historical experiences of Black Americans in both the rural South and urban Chicago, drawing thematic continuity from generational memory and regional identity.[7][5] Reviewers have highlighted his baritone vocal timbre and introspective writing as defining characteristics of his artistic style,[47][77] citing Tracy Chapman, Ben Harper, and Isaac Hayes as influences on his work.[78]
123456Stephane-Eddy, Mbog (Sonikem) (2021-02-01). "8 questions à Terry Blade". Blender Bookmagazine. Archived from the original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
↑Bibliothèque Municipale à Vocation Régionale (BMVR) de Nice, Ville de Nice – Service / Direction de la Culture (2025), Tell 'Em, Nice, France: Ville de Nice, retrieved 2025-12-20
↑Médiathèque départementale de l'Ain, Conseil départemental de l'Ain (2025), "Tell 'Em", Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues, Bourg-en-Bresse, France: Département de l’Ain, retrieved 2025-11-14
12Médiathèque départementale de l'Isère, Isère Departmental Council (2025). "Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues". Médiathèque départementale – Isère. Isère, France: Département de l'Isère. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
↑Bibliothèque départementale de la Vienne, Le Conseil départemental de la Vienne. "Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues". Bibliothèque départementale de la Vienne. Vienne, France. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
↑Médiathèque départementale du Pas-de-Calais, Le Conseil départemental du Pas-de-Calais, Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues, Arras, France: Le Département du Pas-de-Calais
↑Réseau des médiathèques de Toulon, Le Conseil municipal de Toulon (2025), Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues, Toulon, France: La Commune de Toulon, retrieved 2025-11-23
↑Bibliothèque départementale de l’Ain, Conseil départemental de l’Ain (2025-02-28). "Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues". SOFA/Bibliothèque départementale de l’Ain. Ain, France. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
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