Leo "Bud" Welch

Leo "Bud" Welch (born 1932), is an American gospel blues musician and guitarist. He started his music career, in 2014, with the release of, Sabougla Voices, that was released by Big Legal Mess Records. His subsequent studio album, I Don't Prefer No Blues, was released in 2015, from Big Legal Mess Records.Welch was born on the 22nd of March 1932 in the town of Sabougla, Mississippi. Bud picked up a guitar for the first time in 1945. Bud and a cousin would sneak and play the guitar while the actual owner of the guitar (Bud’s older cousin R.C. Welch) was away working. As he became confident in his ability to play guitar, Bud was caught red handed by the owner of the guitar, playing the forbidden to touch instrument. Bud’s older cousin was so impressed with his playing that he gave Bud free reign to continue playing the guitar. By 1947 at age 15, Bud could play well enough to perform publically and garnered the blessing of many elder guitar players. Bud was offered an audition by BB King but could not afford the trip to Memphis. Bud played the Blues continuously until 1975, at that time he converted to playing mostly Gospel, with the Sabougla Voices, which consisted of his sister and a sister-in-law. Bud also played with the Skuna Valley Male Chorus. Bud earned his living by carrying a chain saw up and down the hills and hollows of North Mississippi, logging for 35 years. Leo does not believe that Blues is the devil’s music but a way of expressing the highs and lows of one’s life through song. Bud had played his guitar for close family and friends for over 65 years and remained under the radar, He was a lumberjack, for 30 years, when he was learning his craft of musicianship in the Mississippi Delta, where he learned to play various instruments from the fiddle, harmonica, and guitar.His music recording career started in 2014, with the studio album release, Sabougla Voices, on January 6, 2014, from Big Legal Mess Records. The subsequent album, I Don't Prefer No Blues, was released by Big Legal Mess Records, on March 24, 2015.