Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

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I conducted this Mavis Staples interview before a live audience at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor on June 6, 2003. A delight to speak with, Mavis shares wonderful stories about her childhood, how her father Pops played guitar, the early years of the Staple Singers, their expansion from contemporary gospel into pop, her inspirations Rev. Thomas Dorsey and Dr. Martin Luther King, and other heartwarming subjects. She also does a cappella singing. For more on the Staple Singers, check out my Talking Guitar podcast with Pops Staples at jasobrecht.substack.com #mavisstaples #staplesingers #popsstaples #martinlutherking #jasobrecht #talkingguitar