DESCRIPTION:
Leo "Bud" Welch performing at Red's Lounge in Clarksdale, Mississippi - April 11, 2014.

Leo Welch remembers well the day his cousin's guitar came in the mail. Welch and another, younger cousin brought the package to their house on a long walk up from the mailbox and were forbidden to play with it while the older cousin was away. But they could not resist and when the guitar's owner found them with it he was so impressed with their playing that he gave them free use of the instrument. So began Welch's self-education with the guitar.

Today, Welch is a familiar artist in the African-American gospel world around Bruce where he has been playing lead guitar for various groups since 1975. Born in 1932 in Sabougla (pronounced "Shah-BOW-gla"), Mississippi, Welch comes from a musically inclined family. His early prowess with the guitar led to performances in his local school for plays and musicals. These gave him a taste of playing for the public and he has never lost his desire to perform. In his younger days he worked with a logging crew in the timber industry that has been so important to the Mississippi hill country and played guitar whenever he got the chance.