A Requiem and a Revival:
Gip’s Place Thanks to the heart and passion of a one-of-a-kind man, a music lover’s dream can be found in the most unlikely of places. By Aliza Baker
I sat on a church pew in Bessemer, Alabama, surrounded by strangers that aren’t really strangers at all. Despite different backgrounds, skin colors and ages, those gathered at a funeral in Hopewell Baptist Church on a chilly October afternoon in 2019 were all connected in one respect: to celebrate the life and legacy of a man whose motto had never rang truer than on that day, “No black. No white. Just the blues.”
22 | The Local
