Move over, Ray Charles. A Quebec boy’s got the blues in his soul, and like some of the greatest blues legends, this young musician is blind.
Felix De St-Hilaire is just 10 years old, but he already boasts some impressive guitar skills to go along with an eclectic taste for music. Felix can channel blues greats like B.B. King, Charley Patton and Robert Johnson -- and he does it all by ear.
Felix first captured the public’s attention last week, when his impromptu performance at a summer camp for the blind went viral. In the video, Felix appears in pyjamas and plays with a guitar across his lap as he sings “Every Day I Have the Blues” by B.B. King. And he doesn’t just play a few bars -- he plays the whole song.
The camp director who filmed the performance said his friends loved the video on Facebook, but he never imagined it would go beyond that.
The video had more than 90,000 shares on Facebook by Tuesday.
Felix was born blind, a result of his premature birth just six months into his mother’s pregnancy. Felix’s mother, Marie-Eve Soucy, said her son was always fascinated by music, and used to play with tam-tams in his high chair as a baby.
His parents bought him a guitar when he turned six, and he did the rest. “He started to play on his own. It was incredible,” Soucy told CTV News in French.
The francophone boy taught himself to play all his favourite blues songs, even though they were in English.
Felix says he doesn’t mind the fame. In fact, he embraces it.
“I’m a star!” Felix told CTV News in French.
With files from CTV Montreal
