BIG POPPA'S BIO
Acclaimed Cariblujazz (Carribean-Blues-Jazz) artist Mark “Big Poppa” Stampley, is a popular recording and performing artist, born in Chicago, and now based in Louisville, KY. He has a long career as a singer/songwriter/guitarist/ghost writer and composer, with 4 CD’s under his belt UNIVERSAL BLUEMAN (2014), HERE COME BIG POPPA STAMPLEY (2007), SOME BLUES FOR YOU (2005), and just released his 5th studio album, JUKEBOX BLUES (2019).
Among many accolades, he is the Winner of the 2016 and 2018 Kentuckiana Blues Challenge SOLO/DUO AWARD and was honorably nominated for the 2014 and 2017 “Blues artist of the year” awards by the Louisville Music Awards Academy. Big Poppa is the winner of the 2014 Sylvester Weaver Award and the Fred Hampton Image Award (2004).
Along his career spanning close to three decades he has shared the stage with performers ranging from Koko Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, The Delphonics, The Emotions, Billy Branch, Pop Staples, Dave Myers, Montel Jordan, Twista and Tracksta, Quiet Storm, Ivan Neville (Neville Bros.), Calypso Rose, Roger, Malik Yusef, Roy Ayers, Maya Angelou, Malcolm Jamal -Warner, and Jack Black with his highly acclaimed band, Eclypse of the Moon... To date he has over 2,000 performances logged, ranging from festivals, concerts, musicals, clubs, casinos, hotels and in locations around the U.S.A., Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Big Poppa supports Art Education in schools through his educational literacy and cultural enterprise, MUSIC-HISTORY-In-MOTION and as a ethnomusicologist/Guitar Instructor; teaches student workshops and performs in school systems in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Big Poppa started doing session guitar work in Chicago in the 90’s and has album credits that cross the genres of R&B, Reggae, hip hop, house, Rock and Roll, spoken word and gospel.
Not limiting himself to strings alone, Big Poppa Stampley also has come to be a popular choice for Voice Over work for radio/tv/ websites and feature film narration for titles such as “Legend of the Reno Brothers” and “We are Not of This World “, “ John Bunny” and including radio and TV spots for McDonalds, Ford dealers, University of Louisville, the Smithsonian Institute, Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Commonwealth Bank, Kentucky Lottery, Belle of Louisville, The Hermitage (President Jackson’s home), the Frazier History Museum and many more.
To add acting to his portfolio of work Big Poppa Stampley played “Hayseed“ in the TBN series SMOKETOWN in 2018 (To watch the series follow this link), you can also find his music in the 2020 Hallmarck Channel film “JL Ranch 2: The Wedding Gift” featuring Jon Voight, James Caan, and Bo Derek. The film will feature one of his compositions “The Wedding Song” Co-written with playwright Vin Morreale, jr. .And also in 2020, Big Poppa has a strong supporting role in the Johnathon Cullen western , "The Wanderer " on Amazon Prime
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Easily found on all social media platforms, Big Poppa Stampley is currently touring with his most recent release JUKEBOX BLUES. You can find Big Poppa Stampley’s most recent release JUKEBOX BLUES on SoundCloud (Here):