The essence of a proud rural Jones County country boy riddles through Larry Rashad Lavar McGill’s music. His blues presence is one of vigor, with a confidence reminiscent of Sammy Davis, Jr., and the moves of James Brown. McGill, better known as Rashad the Blues Kid, brings a rhythmic energy that cannot be tamed. He steps on stage not just to sing or play the guitar. He dons the stage to put on a show.

Entertainment in His Blood

“I really pay a lot of attention to entertainers,” said McGill, who received his stage name jokingly from Blues Hall of Famer L.C. Ulmer, because ‘The Kid’ didn’t grow facial hair until his thirties. “Even when Bill Cosby used to come on and do the little tiptoe dance or Sammy Davis, Jr. on a late-night show, or Elvis and James Brown. I got a little spin-around thing that I like to do sometimes that Jackie Wilson used to do, and most people don’t even know who Jackie Wilson is. Pulling that crowd and keeping the jokes going like Rufus Thomas. I’m in the entertainment business. So I believe in entertaining.”

Standing at 6’4”, weighing 350 pounds, most crowds are wowed by his moves. Fans often question him about how he does it, but it was an easy transition from being an offensive lineman on the JSU football field to the stage. Now, Blues is his name, and crowd charming is his game. At 38 years old, The Blues Kid still believes the musical sun rises and sets on the genre of blues. The tune that started it all.

Why the Blues Will Always Be the Base

“Everything leads back to (the blues),” said McGill, singer of the 2016 hit song “Shake It”. “The sauce is the sauce. You can change the beat and the timing of it, and the storyline, and it becomes something else. But it’s the same base. It’s still the blues.”

McGill frequents Jackson’s music scene and is also a part of the “Jacktown USA: The Capital City of American Music” book, CD, and blues movement. His song, “Girl You Got It Going On,” is No. 8 on the CD. The Blues Kid and band also released the “Live in Clarksdale” album in 2025, which was recorded at the world-renowned Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, and he is wasting no time putting out more music. He anticipates a new album release in April 2026, potentially titled “Blues Revival.”

From Jackson Stages to Stages Across the Country

When he isn’t performing his own jams, he’s belting out a string of greatest hits by his favorite artists, Wilson Pickett, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Bobby Blue Bland, and O.V. Wright, to name a few. He consistently brings his show to Jackson and New Orleans, but travels around the country, a long way from playing his guitar to make money for tattoos in college or listening to artists perform at the annual Mother’s Day Blues Festival in Laurel from his childhood home.

“It was just a leap of faith,” said The Blues Kid about leaving traditional jobs and making blues his career. “If I’m going to catch the blues from the bossman, I might as well make blues my job.”