Carlos DeFord Bailey lights up the stage at the Grand Ole Opry, a testament to the musical and cultural legacy coursing through his veins.
Bailey, who has been a familiar face to travelers at Nashville’s airport for the past 25 years as the “Music City Shoeshining Man,” transforms by night into a singer, carrying forward a family tradition.
His grandfather, DeFord Bailey, made history as the Opry’s first Black performer and country music’s first Black star, earning the nickname “Harmonica Wizard” in the mid-1920s and getting his start on the radio.
“Everybody was tune in on Saturday night, they hear this guy and they didn’t know he was a Black man, to the blow the harmonica,” said Bailey. “And so when he made his appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, they was like, wow, he’s Black. But they had already brought his first album.”
DeFord Bailey faced many instances of racism that included being paid less than his White counterparts and being barred from eating in certain restaurants.