Memphis Gold

About me:

"He is the genuine article, perhaps a throwback to the blues men of yore who learned their licks at the knee of legendary patriarch like Charlie Patton. And having done so, serves as one of the last links to the days when cotton was king on the Mississippi Delta," says Larry Benicewicz of Music Monthly. "I'm happy to report that, no, Memphis Gold did not tell me that he sold his soul to the devil down at the Crossroads of highway 49 and 61 in order to play like the guitar wizard that he is."

Memphis Gold has come a long way in the Mid Atlantic, including the crowning achievement of recording 3 full albums. He has shared the stage with such artists as Bernard Allison, James Brown, R.L. Burnside, Debra Coleman, Robert Cray, John Hammond, Little Jimmy King, Johnny Lang, Taj Mahal, Bobby Parker, Little Jimmy Reed, Martha Reeves, Charlie Sayles, Guitar Shorty, Mavis Staples, Hubert Sumlin, Beat Daddys, Joyce Cobb, Shemeika Copland, Junior Kimbrough, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Roomful of Blues, Otis Rush, Temptations and Jimmy Vaughn, and many more celebrities.

He has performed 9 USO tours to far flung military posts throughout the world including Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Croatia, Macedonia, Egypt, Sinai, Japan, Korea, Marshall Islands, Guam, Okinawa, Honduras, Cuba and many more, giving time back to the troops. As a Vietnam Veteran, who served for 10 years, he knows how it is to be along way from home.

"This hidden treasure recently turned 50, and has been in the DC area since 1992, having moved from Memphis wherein as a youth he learned his guitar licks at the knee of legendary Delta picker, later gospel player, Reverend Robert “Tim” Wilkins and formed his first soul band, the Reflections, in the late 60s, before eventually assuming the guitar chores of the renowned blues outfit, the Fieldstones, who recorded for High Water (Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough, Hammie Nixon, etc.), in the early 80s. Just prior to leaving the Home of the Blues, he was fronting his own group, the J.J. Blues Band.

Down and out and homeless after landing in the Nation’s Capital, he played in the streets for tips, making an important connection to the famed harp player, Charlie Sayles, who also earned his meager existence in this manner. As a duo, they later helped in the debut of Baltimore’s Spike & Charlie’s (restaurant) in a blues concert series sponsored by the Coalition for Celebrating African Music of the Americas. And encouraged immensely by another noted D.C.-based bluesman, Bobby Parker, he soon started finding regular club work at the Jet Lounge on 14th St., later the Rock Bottom in Bethesda, JV’s and Whitlow’s in Northern VA, and the Bohemian Caverns on U Street.

In 1995, he served a year-long stint as lead in Debra Coleman’s touring band (with the late Willie Hicks on bass) before finally venturing out on his own. By 1998, he issued his first and very well-received eponymous CD which was produced by Parker, an undertaking which was highly influential in his selection as the top headliner in Brad and Marcia Selko’s annual Hot August Blues Festival in Manor, MD, the following year. In 2004, came an invitation to perform at the prestigious Poconos Blues Festival."- Larry Benicewicz

In addition to the PBF, he has performed at the Monsteras Blues Festival (2006), DC Blues Society Festival (2006), headlined the Amal..s Blues Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden (July 2005), and toured the Koh Samui Islands of Thailand (January 2006).

Chester Chandler (aka Memphis Gold) was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 4, 1955. Chester was the thirteenth child of fourteen, born to John and Reada Chandler. John his father and also a musician, played the bass fiddle and piano in the Church of God in Christ- where at the tender age of 4, Chester was first introduced to the guitar. Chester was quickly recognized as a promising musician, by the age of 8, he was a regular on Beale Street in Memphis, where he played the guitar and danced for pocket change from the crowd.

In February of 1996, Chester Chandler rescued 9 children from a train crash in Silver Springs, Md., which was coming from the Harpers Ferry Job Corps, West Virginia. Ironically he, had performed a blues seminar for the children several months before. Memphis Gold has appeared on the Leeza Show, NBC Dateline, and the Discovery Channel for his heroic effects.

Recently Memphis Gold was featured on the cover of the oldest blues magazine in the world, Jefferson Magazine.

Poconos Blues Festival