Rising Stars: Meet Lady J Huston

Lady J, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born into the music industry. My mother, Loyce Pickens Huston, had a fabulous contralto voice many compared to Sarah Vaughan. She was very popular on the St. Louis music scene as a song stylist covering jazz, blues, pop & gospel music. I am the only girl of 5 children and I’d cling to her to accompany her to many rehearsals and shows.

The first instrument I played was the triangle in kindergarten. I was serious about when to hit my dings in the school concert. I also acted in some school plays. In the 4th grade at Columbia School, I was introduced to the Flutophone. My classroom teacher, Helen Jones-Imes, was also a pianist. She taught us how to read notes and play the instrument which I excelled in. I attended an afternoon music school program in the 5th grade and was taught by Anthony Williams to play a single snare and tenor marching drum. Another teacher, Dr. John Jackson, introduced me to the Trumpet one day after school. I was more interested in the drums at that time and marched in parades.

I was also a very good dancer in grade school. I performed on shows with my mother and her manager, Chick Finney as a Modern Dancer. My mother began promoting her own shows in venues and nightclubs. I would dance, my mother would sing, and her twin sister, Joyce Pickens Coffey, would tell jokes.

I saw Ben Vereen depict Louis Armstrong in a movie and was enthralled by that experience and asked to join the trumpet music class at the original Central High School under Herman Morgan. Since I could read music, I was placed in the intermediate class but was challenged with not knowing how to even make a sound on the trumpet. I practiced hard and surpassed the other students by the end of the year. I became the lead trumpeter & choreographer in the band,  and marched in several local Drum Corps.

I graduated valedictorian, voted the most talented female student and received academic and music scholarships to the University of Kansas (Lawrence). I majored in music theory/composition with minors in trumpet, voice and piano. In my sophomore year at 18 years old, I was offered a position to tour with the Blues legend, Albert King, as trumpeter and opening act. Mr. King fired musicians a lot so I started charting the music to save time having a new member play the show. I became the horn section leader and eventually music director of the band.

After a few years of touring, I accepted scholarships to attend Howard University (D.C.) with the same studies receiving honors on the Dean’s List. I recorded an album with the Howard University Jazz Ensemble and we did shows with Lionel Hampton and Blues pioneer, Alberta Hunter. Due to financial hardships, I couldn’t secure funds to fulfill my graduating requirements so I resigned. While in D.C. I performed with Donald Bryd and sat in on shows with two of my idols Dizzy Gillespie, and Freddie Hubbard. I was a member of a popular GoGo music band D’Shiya.  This group opened for Run DMC and Pieces of a Dream. I started a band with my partner Johnny Stewart. His brother was the R&B star Billy Stewart who tragically died with his band at the height of his career. Johnny & I did a tribute show around his music.

We relocated to Los Angeles, CA and formed Johnny & Joyce & The Choice Band. We opened for several national acts and played around the area but things weren’t moving fast enough so we decided to relocate to Las Vegas, NV. I fell in love with the lights, being in an entertainment mecca and settled there for 25 years. Johnny began touring with Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters and I would perform with them when they played the showrooms in Las Vegas. Johnny & I parted ways. I played in several bands and eventually embarked on having a one-woman show at the Fitzgerald’s Casino using the billing with my new stage name “Lady J”. I was asked to form a Blues band to perform at the #1 Blues club in Las Vegas, The Sand Dollar Blues Room. I began performing with my band as Lady J Huston & The Fireballs. I also worked as a database administrator and project controls engineer with the Department of Energy contracting firm on building a nuclear waste repository for the United States.

My band became quite popular performing in the casino showrooms, lounges, nightclubs, festivals and more. We won consecutive awards with the Las Vegas Black Music Awards (BMA) and the Entertainment Consumers’ Exchange & Fans Entertainment (ECE) as Best Blues Band or me as Performer from 2009 to my departure in 2013. I was heralded as the Las Vegas Queen of the Blues. I became a patient advocate and spokesperson for several causes which led to my being featured on an episode of World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer. I performed in Season 3 of America’s Got Talent as part of the Audition All-Stars in the season finale. I was published in the Distinguished Women and Men of Southern Nevada, multiple Marquis Who’s Who publications, articles in newspapers, magazines, and other TV and radio interviews. My band was inducted into the ECE Hall of Fame in 2013 at my jam-packed, farewell & star-studded tribute show.

I became very ill in 2013 with little hope for survival from the doctors. I was encouraged to return to my hometown to be with family and get my papers in order for the end. I struggled for 5 years but things began to improve with doctors from Washington University and Barnes Hospital. I found a functional medicine doctor that offered alternatives that helped strengthen me to return to the stage.

In 2018, I debuted The Lady J Huston Show and Tribute to Albert King at the National Blues Museum. I have continued to perform there and at other venues in the area with an ever-growing loyal fan base. I was asked to record on the “18 in 18” CD compilation of local Blues artists with the St. Louis Blues Society. I had written “Hide-Away” (https://youtu.be/_khTgLHeC9Q) an 18-piece big band composition that the Jazz Edge Orchestra recorded with me. That is a major milestone and highlight for me in my career. I was performing regularly until the pandemic hit. In April 2021, I resumed performing in venues after getting vaccinated.