Sugar Brown

Toronto-based blues vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Born to a Japanese father and Korean mother who both emigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s. He was raised in Bowling Green, Ohio, then moved to Chicago to pursue his studies. In Chicago he worked extensively with such local heroes as Taildragger (the man who gave Kawashima his nickname), Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and Rockin’ Johnny Burgin. Since completing his Ph.D. in history from New York University in 2002, Sugar Brown has been living in Toronto, where he teaches as Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto.