- [Announcer] Give it up one more time.

(blues music)

- Blues is a feeling.

And it is an experience.

Blues is about something that happens in my life.

♫ Rock me all night long

My name is Beverly Watkins.

I was born here in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1939.

- [Narrator] Beverly Watkins was a pioneer

for women in Blues.

- When I was playing back in the '60s,

there wasn't no female guitar players,

not in Georgia.

They said I played like a man,

but they're using the wrong terminology.

The main thing is because I play so good.

- [Narrator] After high school,

Beverly began touring with the band

Piano Red and the Meter Tones.

Shortly thereafter, she was opening

for some of the biggest acts in music.

- We opened up for James Brown,

B.B. King, Otis Redding.

I played over two or 3,000 shows.

Back in those days, the artists took time

and help each other.

- [Narrator] Her hard classic blues style has evolved

over the last 60 years.

Touring with different bands and eventually going solo.

- I never stopped.

When they said I should, I didn't pay them no mind.

I kept going.

Yes, it has gotten hard out there, you know.

I clean houses, I worked at car washes,

I clean offices, but I never stopped playing my music.

- [Narrator] And she has no plans on stopping

anytime soon.

Well into her 70s, she still puts on

a show for the crowd.

- It is keeping me living, keeping me going.

I'm going to look good and have a good time.

And get up there and do my thing.