History

Bettie Mae Fikes was born in Selma, Alabama, and began singing gospel alongside her mother at age 4. Bettie is a descendant from a long line of country gospel singers and preachers. At the age of 16 she became a student leader for the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Civil Rights Movement, emerging as a music leader. She was jailed for several weeks in 1963 for protesting during the voting rights struggle in Selma. Bettie began singing with the SNCC Freedom Singers. Her passion and commitment garnered the Long Walk to Freedom Award as well as a letter from California Governor Gray Davis acknowledging her roll in the Civil Rights movement.

Bettie has graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, the Library of Congress, and numerous Blues Festivals, as well as performing for the ’64 Democratic National Convention and the ’04 Democratic National Convention (where she was introduced by Maya Angelou). She has performed with Joe Turner, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Albert King, James Brown, Bob Dylan, and Mavis Staples among others. Bettie is also a dynamic lecturer, having delivered moving speeches about diversity and civil rights at universities throughout the United States and Canada.

She has been featured on several recordings, with 2 albums currently in print under her own name, including 'A Blues Holiday', produced by Benjamin Wright, and her latest offering, 'How Blue Can You Get?', a live recording capturing a performance at the Ancient Lake Gardens in Lake County, California.

Bettie Mae Fikes is a powerful, beautiful woman. She holds Blues audiences in the palm of her well-manicured hand when she takes to the stage and begins to tell each person in that rapt crowd a story. Yes, she’s a storyteller. A musical genius of a storyteller. She’ll weave you into her story with her impromptu lyrics; caress you with that throaty, rich, velvety voice…until you believe you are the only one in the room. Small is stature, she seems ten feet tall when she’s in the spotlight gazing down at you. Her voice can vibrate a room until the walls beg for mercy. Bettie says: “I travel around the country trying to deliver the message that my grandmother passed to me,” “I am too strong to be broken down … All I can say is we know where we’ve been but we don’t know where we’re going.”

Bettie Mae Fikes is a bright light in this world. She is a beacon of hope, a beloved daughter of Jesus, an adoring mother, a miracle of love to her friends, and a loving mistress to her music. To be in her presence is an honor. To listen to her sing is an unforgettable journey of joy.