Bobby Rush Plays Grand Ole Opry; My Library of Congress Award

“Professional photographer and documentarian Karen Pulfer Focht from Memphis, Tennessee, received an Owen Award to continue and expand her work documenting the legendary bluesman Bobby Rush.” The Library of Congress American Folklife Center
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2023/07/afc-fellowship-and-award-recipients-2023/?loclr=eaftb

So, with the support of the Library of Congress, I continue to document the rising star of 92-year-old, Grammy award-winning bluesman Bobby Rush as he makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. Thank you so much! Karen

Three-time Grammy Award-winning blues legend Bobby Rush,91, made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on SaturdayAugust 2, 2025.

This year marks the Opry’s 100th Anniversary. He performed with guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd with whom he recently recorded.

Rush, who lives in Mississippi, is one of the last 20th-century bluesmen. But his taste in music is not exclusive. He said he has always loved country music, especially by contemporary Willie Nelson.

He said he was so honored to be invited to perform on the same stage that Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton and other greats have performed.

At one point in his life, it seemed unobtainable.

There was a time when Rush was hired to play for an all-white audience outside of Chicago. He and his band had to play behind a curtain. “They wanted to hear our music but didn’t want to see our faces.” That hurt him deeply inside.

They got paid with chitlins and cheeseburgers. Rush sold his to make the extra money.

For decades the popular entertainer reigned over the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a network of Black nightclubs that hosted Black entertainers and audiences. That legacy earned him the nickname King of the Chitlin’ Circuit.

He has been recording 72 years and has sold many of his more than 300 records out of his car trunk at shows and festivals.

“I never thought I’d play here, this is success to me,” he says, nibbling on some popcorn and sipping some lemonade backstage at the Opry.

In the time between the sound check and showtime, Rush goes into the dressing room he shares with Shepherd and Shepherds six children. Pictures of famous country artists adorn the walls. Quotes from the stars are written above and to the side of the many photographs.

A very relaxed Rush, dressed in his slick showbiz attire, grabs a quick power nap in a chair as the kids bang on the piano, run, and play. A few minutes before he and Shepherd are called onto the stage, Rush pops up and opens his eyes. He follows the stage director backstage, waiting in the wings to go out and perform.

He dances on stage, making jokes, playing his harmonica, and having a musical conversation with Shepherd on guitar. He gets the crowd singing with him, and he brings them to their feet. They give him a standing ovation; he soaks in the moment.

“Now I feel in my heart that I am successful because I played the Opry House.”

Bobby Rush, whose real name is Emmett Ellis Jr., says his life has been filled with much grace and mercy. “I have lived long enough to see the changes in people’s hearts and minds” and for that he is very grateful.

 BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT ©2025

For previous coverage:

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/tag/Bluesman+Bobby+Rush

For some Videos I have shot on Bobby:

https://youtu.be/nHPJOK143M4 (Southern Folklore Festival)

https://youtu.be/ppMIN4yeBGA (At the Levitt Shell in Memphis)

https://youtu.be/NGFGe5F3L9o (Bobby Rush plays at funeral for Pinetop Perkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to81fyxzPm8 (At the Blues Foundation in Memphis)

Bobby Rush was at the Memphis funeral procession for B.B. King in 2015. He also performed in Handy Park that day. https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2015/5/27/bb-king-funeral-procession-beale-street

Previous article I worked on :

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/bobbyrushchitlincircut

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/bobbyrushwinsgrammy

Memphis Zoo Babies Featured in Choose 901

Memphis Zoo Babies Featured in Choose 901

MEMPHIS? WHY MEMPHIS???

LINK TO STORY HERE: https://choose901.com/memphis-zoo-babies/

Above is the link to the feature about Memphis Zoo Babies for Choose 901- Read all about why I chose “The 901”- Memphis, to live, work, and raise my family, and why I still call it home. I talk about what it was like to work at one of the best photojournalism papers in America and how I fell in love with the Memphis Zoo.

Also, NOVEL Memphis bookstore is now carrying Memphis Zoo Babies as well as the Memphis Zoo Gift Shop or you can still purchase it online here on my website. You are also welcome to just email me to purchase the book directly.

Historic Clayborn Temple Burns

We had a tragedy this week in Memphis when Clayborn Temple burned down. I covered the fire for Associated Press.

The historic Clayborn Temple, a landmark from the civil rights movement with ties to Martin Luther King, caught fire Monday, April 28, 2025, in Memphis, Tennessee.

As a photojournalist in Memphis, I have had to cover many painful things over the years. There is nothing like hearing the wailing and mournful cries of people in pain at a news scene. It stays with you forever. It can be hard to pick up my camera and document it. But I do. As I explained to someone this week, just as important as showing the burning building, as a storyteller, I need to show that this isn’t just a building; this building meant something to people. Sharing and showing the grief and pain of the people who came to the scene helps people see how important and sacred this place is.

Sadyya Rockett-Miller and her husband Andre LeMoyne Miller prayed their way through their grief and anger outside of the historic Clayborn Temple on Monday. Andre is asking God to help him and give him some peace. Miller’s grandfather had a connection to the Civil Rights Movement and Clayborn Temple. His anger was raging.

The neighborhood folks worshiping at Clayborn Temple over the years.

Carolyn Michael-Banks, founder of A Tour of Possibilities in Memphis, Tn. gives black history-focused tours. I did a story about her and her tours in Memphis Magazine last fall. Clayborn Temple and its history is a highlight of the tour. She reached out to me after the fire and said “ This incident has made me more committed to what I do. If you know the history, fire can’t destroy it. “

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2024/11/1/a-tour-of-possibilities

The Clayborn Temple has been under renovation for a few years. For more information https://clayborn.org/

CBS NEWS did a nice job covering the story. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee-church-fire-mlk-civil-rights/

Gayle Rose wrote a beautiful column for The Institute For Public Service Reporting about it also. https://www.psrmemphis.org/fire-consumed-clayborn-temple-but-it-cant-destroy-the-dream/

The Magic of Christmas Then and Now

For more than two decades, people have been enjoying a picture, a fleeting moment

that I captured one day, by chance, at Wolfchase Galleria on December 23 rd , 2002 in

Memphis, Tennessee.

I worked the early morning shift for the newspaper, and it was a typical morning chasing

the news. I heard on the police scanner that an armored truck had been robbed. It was

a couple of days before Christmas.

The world was slowing down, the holiday was approaching.

At a time like this in the news business, the team works like squirrels, gathering what we

call “evergreen” stories, stories that can run in the paper any time, with no news peg, no

deadline, or urgency. That way people could work ahead, and we could staff the

newsroom, which was staffed 365 days a year, with a minimal crew.

I got my photo of the robbery scene before many of the staff even came into

work at the paper for the day. I was waiting for the press conference to start to get the

details of what had happened. While waiting for that, I went over to see what was

happening with Santa at the mall.

I was always eager to photograph Santa and the children. I have always loved to

photograph kids, dogs, and the elderly.

The photo editors made it clear that they had had enough of Santa for this season—no

more Santa photos. But I couldn’t resist. Even if it would not get published, I wanted to

make photographs of kids with Santa.

As a professional photographer, you spend a lot of time photographing what other

people want. It is important to never lose your own voice. It is important to always

continue to shoot that which brings you joy too!

I patiently hung back with a long telephoto lens, watched, waited and shot sweet

children eager to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

I felt sure I had some cute photos. I tried to make a hard sell to the photo desk, but they

were not having it. We really don’t need any more Santa photos this season Karen, they

said.

When I came into the paper to turn out my day’s work, I had what I considered a

magical frame. The frame appeared to have a little girl and Santa sharing a very special

Christmas moment. I had to make a case to get it into the paper. I remember Otis

Sanford, one of the top editors, pushed to run it. He loved it. It ran on page one!

The next day, Christmas Eve, I got such an amazing response from our

readers! People just loved the photo. They wrote in and called. So many people were

touched by the photograph. One man wrote a letter to the editor saying it brought tears

to his eyes.

There was just something magical and heartwarming about this photograph.

As a photojournalist, I have always said, that touching the reader in a way that influences

them, and makes them write or call, laugh or cry, or even better rise into action, has

always meant more to me than any award ever could.

At the time, people cut the photo out of the paper, and many bring it out year after year

at Christmas. When I am long gone, this photo will be one of the photos that I am

going to be remembered by.

I wanted to let the family know how much this photo meant to the community. I wrote to

them more than once but never heard back. People asked if I could do a follow up with

the young girl, but I was never able to make contact.

Now more than 20 years later, with the help of social media, I found Affiong Enyenihi.

She was only a couple of miles from where I took the photograph and living in an

apartment with friends.

So, what ever happened to Affiong?

Affiong Enyenihi was born to Nigerian parents. She was brought up in Collierville. Her

father is a doctor, and her mother worked with children. They are very private people.

Affiong has her master’s degree, she loves history and is teaching in an inner-city

school here in Memphis. She left the area for a while but came back. She loves working

with the students but it is challenging.

“I want to try and make their lives better. Try to give the children opportunities and show

them what there is out there for them. There is a huge gap to close,” she says. She is

thinking now about getting her doctorate.

For her entire life, Affiong has lived in two worlds. Her American world and her Nigerian

world.

“It is hard being looked at differently “she explained. While a child, she did not want to

stand out by bringing unique food to school and she wanted an American name,

perhaps Rachel. Like most teenagers going to school at Houston High, she wanted to

be like everyone else. She was shy. She always enjoyed children; she was a camp

counselor at St. Columba, a popular summer camp in Memphis.

She was also born into a wonderful Nigerian community here. Her parents have a

church community, and they share birthdays, anniversaries and other social events with

the Nigerians in the area. They love the American South.

“Nigerians like to share their culture” she said. But she still felt awkward when, as a kid,

she brought her friends along and they didn’t want to eat any of the food, and they

wanted to go home.

When you are young, you know that people are not living the same culture as you. She

remembers not wanting to be different, but she also appreciated her culture, and she’d

never want to leave it behind. “Not everyone gets to have two cultures” she said.

“I think I’ve always just wanted to be my parents’ daughter more than anything else.”

She will continue to enjoy dual cultures and stay close to her parents.

“The way my mom raised me was to find similarities with other people, even if people do

things differently, you can always find something in common.”

What a beautiful thought for this holiday season.

As for how they spend Christmas, “In Nigeria, the way we celebrate Christmas is

different, we go to church on Christmas Day, we celebrate with friends, we eat different

things, decorate and throw a party. We do celebrate Christmas; we have Father

Christmas. I think Christmas can be magical even without a celebration of Santa. “

When she was a kid, her neighbor had kept a newspaper clipping of my photo of her

with Santa. She knew the photo existed. But she really had no idea what it meant to

anyone else. Her mother has photos of her all over the house, but none with Santa.

That day at the mall, she was just a kid who wanted to see Santa. And she was

delighted, that her mom said yes, and I was lucky enough to capture that magical,

fleeting moment in time that reminded so many of the magic of Christmas.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Kyndle Wylde Brings Home The Prize

"CBS Mornings" Mixtape Music Competition winner is Kyndle Wylde. The singer-songwriter grew up singing in her family's worship band at church and moved to Nashville to pursue her dreams of a career in music. Air Date: Sep 3, 2024 CBS MORNINGS

See her CBS Interview here.

https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/cR_ht260Rzz06Av7d27AwQ2lS_0gqhVC/

 On a bright sunshiny day in August Kyndle Wylde’s phone rang. CBS Morning News

was requesting a zoom call with her and the producers asked her to stand by. As the

screen came up from black, she saw TV host Gayle King on the other end saying the

words, “you are the winner!”

Kyndle sat down and put her hands over her face. She thought “Oh my God!”

Now Kyndle had a huge secret to keep. Especially from her grandmother, who she knew

would have to tell everyone in all of Bolivar, Kyndle’s hometown.

She had to sneak up to New York City for filming, without anyone noticing.

A few weeks later, on September 3, 2024, the show officially announced that the CBS

Mornings Mixtape Music Competition winner was West Tennessee native Kyndle Wylde.

Hundreds of talented people from all over the country competed, sending in their covers

of Johnny Nash’s song, I Can See Clearly Now.

“We were all blown away by her submission video,” said CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson during an interview. She showcased her skills to the world live in a studio in New York City and is now featured in their national promotional campaign.

“That was a win, not just for me, but also for Bolivar and for Memphis, where I cut my teeth and grew so much as a person and performer,” Kyndle, 31, said.  Kyndle performed and recorded with the Memphis Ukulele Band while in Memphis.  “When I did win, it was a big celebration for everybody. It was just a great day to rejoice with everybody.”

“We wanted to knock it out of the park,” she said of herself and her band. CBS was happy with how everything turned out and said this was a win for them, too. Before her performance, Kyndle said Gayle King came to the makeup room and was nice. She took time to meet her and thank her.

Kyndle, a petite soul singer with a powerful rich voice and incredible range, has always

wanted to be a performer and touts that she was singing from her crib as a baby. This was

the biggest national opportunity she has had in her career, she said.

When she performed the song, she belted out a soulful take on the tune that would

make any Memphian proud. Now, CBS plays it every morning.

“Everything that we are and grew up listening to, we just put it in that” she said in her

CBS interview.

It is not every day your dreams are realized, and the universe conspires in your favor.

Gospel-raised Kyndle Wylde believes she is doing exactly what God has called her to

do. She grew up singing in church with her grandfather, a preacher. “The first ten years

of my life, we were in church.”

She and her husband Adam Gowdy, also from Bolivar, are inspired by many of the R& B

greats. Kyndle does not like to get all the credit, she emphasizes. That is not just her. She

says “Adam has proven time and time again how much he loves me and loves what we

do and how much he supports this. He believes in it. Creatively we have melded

together, we have a vision and a purpose that we are aligned with. We are kind of like

Johnny and June or Ike and Tina Turner.”

“When you align with all that, that’s when doors open for you” says Kyndle.

She is humble and filled with gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Kyndle studied music at the University of Memphis. After living in Memphis for six years,

she and husband Adam, who is also her bandmate, moved to Nashville to pursue their

dreams. Adam has believed in her since they were teens, and for that long he has

been wanting the world to see the beautiful superstar that he sees in her.

In October she found herself on stage at The Grand Ole Opry singing a song with

Country artist Drake White. She was hired for background vocals on one of his songs

and he said, “I’ve just got to have you at the Opry with me.”

Once again feeling deep gratitude, she got emotional as she thought about the history

of that stage and what it means to perform there. The song they were singing was about

about faith, the gospel undertones. “It is really a powerful stage to perform on” she

said. “I’ll never forget it.”

She recently came home to Bolivar to perform for her hometown friends and family and

to thank them for all of their support. She wants to come back to Memphis to perform for

her Memphis fans too, and she wants it to be something special.

Kyndle has regular gigs in Nashville and Austin, Texas. “I do what I love and people can

see that. My job is to conjure the spirit in people and communicate truth. I do feel like

the universe is conspiring in my favor in a way, because I have aligned myself with what

I feel like what God has called me to do.”

She’s experienced a lot of growth this year. “There is a lot of synergy around who I am

working with now, all from West Tennessee, you can feel alignment, you have this gut

feeling, “I’m on the right path.”

For all of that she is very thankful.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE:

December 1 st , Nashville, Analog at Hutton Hotel

The Twelve Thirty Club on Fridays when she is in Nashville

Story by Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Hear her sing! https://youtube.com/shorts/QAx6N4xjXPo?si=21uE32CCdqjsa_kt

https://youtube.com/shorts/hPa1-PQqp2w?si=FZOVFhUdmmwtPwfS

A Tour Of Possibilities

Carolyn Michael Banks

The Memphis Skyline

Beale Street, Memphis

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Blues Musician

Lorainne Motel

Tom Lee

Mississippi River

Slave Haven

Rosa Parks

Pridefully driving around Memphis, bragging on all things great that derive from the Bluff City, Carolyn Michael-Banks, founder of A Tour of Possibilities in Memphis, Tn. gives black history-focused tours. 

With blues playing on her radio, Michael-Banks, also known as Queen, takes visitors to sites of historical and cultural significance to African Americans.

She highlights the best things about our city.  But Queen does not sugarcoat the history.

Driving along Riverside drive, touting the majestic Mississippi River, the colorful bridges, the remarkable story of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Pyramid, our amazing musical history and Beale Street, she reminds her guests, “if this body of water could speak, I can only imagine the stories it would tell.” 

Looking over the river, Michael-Banks offers a view of the city from a different vantage point. “On this body of water, two commodities were transported that changed the economy of this area;” she says as her voice tone changes, she pauses “cotton and enslaved people. On this same river, many used to escape slavery as well.”

For two-and-one-half hours, she highlights black owned businesses and the contributions that African Americans have made to make Memphis a such a great and significant city. She boasts about our soul food, blues music and B.B. King, COGIC, Stax, Robert Church and Obama’s visit.

But the guided historical tour also does not hide the darker side of the city’s history including injustice, segregation and racism.

Queen reminds Chicagoans Maryann and Reginald Marsh, touring on this day, that in front of them is the location where Nathan Bedford Forrest once had “Fresh Negro’s For Sale.”  Woven through the ride that includes various wonderful landmarks, magical stories of inspiring people and popular Memphis attractions, she also tells of people who lived in fear of lynchings, of city riots, a civil rights struggle and the Martin Luther King assassination.

There’s no doubt about her love for the city.  What she loves to share most is a sense of hope, optimism and deep respect for the people that came before her, the people like Tom Lee, Rosa Parks, Danny Thomas and Ida B. Wells, “the people who saw things that appeared to be impossible, but made them possible, in spite of.”

That is why she has named her tour A Tour of Possibilities.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Amish Sing-A-Long

Who doesn’t love a sing along????

While attending the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Festival in Durango this month, we (a few members of the Memphis Ukulele Flash Mob) had a late-night jam in our hotel lobby.

Much to our surprise, while we sang a gospel song led by Pete McCarty, one by one a few Amish guests were slowly drawn into the room. Pete, who is known for his jolly personality and rich deep voice, discovered a common bond, and touched by their presence, we sang one gospel song after another for over an hour. They listened to us sing, and with big smiles on their faces, they sang along too.

These Amish singing with us were from Shipshewana, Indiana, which is the third largest Amish and Mennonite community in the United States. They were visiting Durango on vacation. They took the train to Colorado.

The Amish are conservative Christians and they believe in a simple lifestyle, dress modestly, and live close to the land and without technology. They are known for building fine furniture sold all over the country.

After we sang together, they asked if they could sing us a song. They began chanting The Praise Song, VERY slowly in high German. They sang one verse, which took over five minutes. You can hear it here in this video. It's about 1:48 minutes in.

As little as we had in common, for a few minutes that night, we were all just the people of God.