Castro ‘Mr. Sipp’ Coleman gets MS Blues Trail Marker in McComb

The Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Blues Foundation unveiled the 217th Mississippi Blues Trail Marker in McComb, Mississippi, on November 30, 2024, honoring Castro Coleman a/k/a Mr. Sipp…The Mississippi Blues Child.

A large crowd of friends, family, music industry icons, and fans assembled in McComb in front of the Palace Theater to pay homage to the youngest living musician to receive a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker. He is just 48 years old. 

The Palace Theater is where Castro Coleman played his first concert in downtown McComb as a young adult.

The Mississippi Blues Trail Marker is located in downtown McComb at the end of Main Street and a Castro Coleman statue is at the beginning of Main Street.  Many of his childhood friends called him Castro, his given name. As he got older and came on the scene as a gospel singer with True Believers and Castro Coleman & Highly Favored, he was known as Cat Coleman. When he entered the blues music industry, he was called Mr. Sipp…The Mississippi Blues Child.  

Castro Coleman began his music career as a self-taught guitar player at the early age of six years old. He was introduced into the gospel music world as a teenager under the tutelage of The Williams Brothers, Doug and Melvin.  Castro said: “The Williams Brothers allowed me to spend time in the Blackberry Records Studio absorbing industry techniques, sounds, and firsthand music lessons as a teen teaching me the ins and outs of engineering, music composition, and the nuances of songwriting for free because they saw something in me as a young musician that I didn’t see in myself as a 15 and 16-year-old kid. While at the Blackberry Studio, I met and learned vocalization and showmanship from the likes of Mr. Harvey Watkins of the legendary Canton Spirituals and The Pilgrim Jubilees. These types of lessons were monumental to my growth as a musician, songwriter, and performer, making gospel music my first love. I took all I had learned at Blackberry and formed my own gospel group, True Believers and Castro Coleman & Highly Favored. I formed True Believers in my mother’s living room. I was allowed to be the opening act for Paul Porter and many other top gospel groups and individual musicians, which was an even deeper level of experience and exposure that I could never pay for.” 

A different level of notoriety came into play when Castro entered the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, competing against over 200 bands from around the world at the IBC as Mr. Sipp and won in 2014. Additionally, he also won the IBC’s individual Albert King Gibson Best Guitarist Award. As a Mississippi bluesman and songwriter, he became known globally as Mr. Sipp, paying tribute to his native Mississippi…The Birthplace of America’s Music and The Birthplace of the Blues. The IBC win catapulted him into the esteemed world of blues legends such as Bo Diddley, also a native of McComb. 

Mr. Sipp has recorded four CDs/ albums: The Mississippi Blues Child, It’s My Guitar, Knock A Hole In It, and Sippnotized. He also recorded a great gospel album entitled The Old Church with True Believers in the Traditional Gospel category. 

After the IBC win, Mr. Sipp was signed with the Malaco label as a bluesman with the album The Mississippi Blues Child and started touring worldwide and hasn’t stopped since. Mr. Sipp has now traveled several continents and played in numerous blues clubs, blues cruises, blues festivals, and blues halls in faraway places, including Japan, France, Croatia, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and England.

Castro and Temecka Coleman are the proud parents of four girls: Vershunda, LaCassidy, Tania, and Alashia. Castro says, “I am proud of my kids, and I just want them to remember that I will always be just Daddy…They say I’m their biggest ‘Flex,’ but in reality, they are my biggest ‘Flex’ because they have never given me any backlash for all the times my work kept me away from home. Having this Blues Trail Marker is a great honor, and it is the greatest milestone in my professional career. I want to be a motivator for the kids here in McComb and throughout the state. I want kids to know that you don’t have to move to New York or California to be recognized for the work they do. I feel honored every time I go downtown seeing the statue and now the trail marker…you don’t have to leave Pike County. It’s great seeing friends and fans taking pictures of the statue and now the Blues Trail Marker. I hope that music fans will come to McComb to learn more about my journey as a Mississippi musician. I hope that the statue and marker will drive tourism to McComb now and far into the future.”

After the unveiling of the Blues Trail Maker, there was a reception and a Thanksgiving Blues Bash concert presented by Mr. Sipp last Saturday night in downtown McComb. Mr. Sipp says he is planning to have an annual weekend-long event in 2025, with a Friday night Soul Train Dance Party, a Saturday night Blues Show Concert, and a Sunday Gospel Brunch.

Castro Coleman is a GRAMMY Award winner for a Count Basie Orchestra album in the Jazz Ensemble category, where he played guitar on eight songs, of which two were his originals…Dirty Mississippi and Let’s Have A Good Time. Mr. Sipp’s music is available on all social media and music platforms.

Castro “Mr. Sipp” Coleman is the son of the late Mrs. Vera Coleman and Mr. Jonell Coleman of McComb. His siblings are Valarie and Phillip Coleman of Texas and McComb, respectively.