First seen in France at Terri’Thouars Blues festival, Skyler Saufley belongs to this new generation of american blues artists which, since a few years, are regenerating the genre and, hopefully, will bring a new public to the Blues.

Skyler was present in Nantes at the end of August to play at Les Rendez-Vous de l’Erdre festival. We met him at one of his gigs outside Nantes, in a nice place called “Le Petit Bois” in La Chevalleraie, along the Nantes-Brest canal.

You were born in Virginia in 1995 and you grew up in Phenix, Alabama. How did you discover rock & roll and blues music ?

I was about 12 years old and first of all my parents never really got into music all that much. My mother listened to gospel music, my father listened to country music and at the time I didn’t really appreciate either of them. I have a younger brother who is not into music. A friend of mine put me on to Muddy Waters and I knew right there like that’s what I want to do. So I got a guitar and I taught myself how to play.

You are self-taught on guitar. How did you do that?

Just playing along with the records. I spent hours growing up learning how to play by playing along with the records and then going out to see people that were playing this kind of music that were better than me. And to this day, I still learn watching people.

And how did you get your first guitar?

When I said I wanted to learn how to play, my parents said they would take me out to buy a guitar, but they never did. And it was like, “oh we’ll get you one next weekend”.

I got tired of waiting so I saved up my money and I had a coupon and I went and bought a toy guitar for $20 with the coupon and I taught myself how to play on this little toy. And when my parents saw that I was actually working on it and learning how to play then they eventually bought me my first real guitar. It was a hunk of junk. But it worked.

When did you start to really play music, to have a band and do some gigs?

I started playing when I was 12 and I was just going out and trying to play with people. I got my first paid gig when I was about 15 and ever since then I’ve been playing full time.

Was that legal?

No, it was not. I wasn’t old enough to get in the bars in the States so I would have to either get permission from the owners or sneak in without getting in trouble.

Did you go to see groups or bands playing in your neighbourhood and sit in with them?

All the time. The groups were mostly unknown but there was a lot of really good. There was a club in Atlanta and to this day it’s my favorite place in the world. It’s called Blind Willie’s. I was about 16 or 17 and I would drive two hours to go to Atlanta to go to this club and I would sneak in because I wasn’t old enough. I’d watch the bands and they’d have great blues every night and I would go up there and so many good bands. And that’s really how I learned how to play, was watching people there and watching how they put their show together.

And were you lucky enough to see some great bluesmen or women?

The first one I saw in there was a guy in Atlanta named Luther Houserocker Johnson[1]. He did a lot of things like Jimmy Reed and I enjoyed that.

On stage, you cover a lot of people like T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Guitar Slim, Jimmy Reed, that is to say people from 50 to 70 years ago. Why are you so attracted by this kind of blues?

There’s just something special. It’s authentic, it’s so different. Each guy has his own unique approach. When you listen, it never gets boring.

Jimmy Reed plays totally different from T-Bone Walker or Guitar Slim or Pee Wee Crayton, or Muddy Waters, you hear their different styles and it never gets old because it’s just always exciting.

What does it mean to play that kind of blues today, to your younger generations?

To me it’s an honor and a privilege to to be able to play this music for anybody. The best thing that America has ever given to the world is blues music and with the younger guys coming up and playing, it’s cool to be part of that because a lot of the older guys are passing on, so somebody’s got to keep playing, and I’m glad that there’s so many good ones and that I’m involved with that in some way.

There seems to be a whole new generation of young blues men and women in the US, whether they are African American or not.

I think the younger generation, for the most part is tired of being tired to be forced upon music, like there’s so much music all the time. So, we’re just attracted to real, raw music, whether it’s blues or any style, just real authentic stuff, real people playing together, I think that the younger people really like that.

Your website has a page announcing an album.

I’m almost done. I don’t have a set release date yet, but hopefully soon. It’s been recorded in the US. And I’m recording Anita[2], the piano player we had today, on two or three songs

Coming back to the album, will that be covers or originals?

Covers this time, just to put something out there, lots of Lowell Fulson, Pee Wee Crayton, of course. But I’m working on originals right now.

You played a solo from Pee Wee Crayton, this morning.

Yeah, I played a Pee Wee song. And on the red Pee Wee guitar, too !

Can you name the musicians on the album?

It’s my band back in the States. I’ve got a drummer over there, named Pete Maier, he’s fantastic, I just love playing with him. And then my bass player back home, Josh Minucci, he plays stand-up bass. Usually, depending on the gig, we’ll have different line-ups. So it’s almost always me, the drummer, and the bass player. But we may add keys or horns, depending on the gig. But for the most part, that’s my core group.

How did you get acquainted with Denis and the band?

It was maybe three or four years ago. A promoter was visiting the States; he came and saw me play at Blind Willie’s in Atlanta and he told me, “I want to book you in my festival in Thouars”. And I said, “OK, well, I’d love to go”.

I’d never left the States. I would love to do it. A year went by and I never heard anything. So I thought that he’s not going to call me. Then I got an email and he wanted me to play. And he said, “but you’ve got to play with our band. We have a band here for you”. And at first, I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to bring my band.

And when he sent me the video of the guys playing, and they were just so good. So I thought, OK, well, I can come play this gig for that. And I did the gig. It was great. And at the same time, Denis had just started a booking agency, Mojo Wax Booking. He just started booking shows. I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with that.

So what are your projects in the near future?

Just hopefully to put out music more often. And write originals, be able to play and travel as much as I can for as long as I can. I go back to the US, for the most part, I’m booked. So staying busy.

We stopped the interview there because of a sudden storm with lots of rain and Skyler had to protect himself from getting a cold.

Interview conducted by Christophe Mourot in August 2026, the 26^th.

Opening photo : Anita Fabiani, Denis Agenet, Skyler Saufley, Lucerne, 2025 © Brigitte Charvolin

Read the Live Report of Les Rendez-Vous de l’Erdre 2026 with Skyler Saufley

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[1] Luther ʺHouserockerʺ Johnson, not to be confused with Luther ʺSnake Boyʺ or ʺGeorgia Boyʺ Johnson, and Luther ʺGuitar Juniorʺ Johnson, born in 1939, deceased in 2019, was a bluesman from Georgia, was a bluesman from Georgia, influenced by Jimmy Reed and swamp blues artists. He released two albums on Ichiban in 1990 and 1991.

[2] Anita Fabiani, who backs Skyler when touring in France.