Black Music Festival 2025: Annie & The Caldwells

When she’s not touring the world as one-third of the Staples Jr. Singers (the family band from Aberdeen, Mississippi who, following the re-release of their 1975 record When Do We Get Paid [Luaka Bop, 2022], toured Europe four times in one year, playing successful shows at Le Guess Who?, WOMAD UK, and the North Sea Jazz Festival, to name only a few of many) Annie Caldwell is on the road with her other band: Annie & The Caldwells. However, their touring destinations aren’t so far from home: Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee.

Annie’s family are an incredibly high energy group who play together every weekend. They came to be when Annie married Willie Joe Caldwell (he also tours with the Staples, on lead guitar) and started a family. Their sons make up the rhythm section and their three daughters sing back up. This next generation has brought their own powerful influence to the band’s sound: It’s disco, it’s R&B, it’s soul.