NATCHEZ &045;&045; For musician Theodis Ealey, a Natchez native now based in Georgia, earning not one, but two Jackson Music Awards was an honor a lifetime in the making.

Since he was 4 years old, to be exact.

Ealey won the National Blues Artist of the Year honor and the Best Recording by a Single Artist (for the single &uot;Stand Up In It&uot;) at the Jackson Music Awards earlier this week.

But it was back at age 4 that young Theodis was taught by older brother Y.Z., still of Natchez, how to play the guitar.

&uot;And our brother Bubba &045;&045; his real name is David &045;&045; had handed it down to him,&uot; Theodis Ealey said.

From there, young Theodis went on to play in Y.Z.’s band, Y.Z. Ealey and the Merrymakers, at the tender age of 13, then went on to play with Eugene Butler.

And he’s never looked back.

Although Theodis Ealey had taken a host of jobs &045;&045; from lighting technician to security guard to newspaper carrier &045;&045; to make ends meet, he always considered playing music his mainstay.

&uot;I always considered those other jobs my part-time jobs, and music was my full-time job,&uot; he said.

Several albums and countless live gigs later, that philosophy seems to have worked well for Theodis Ealey.

Started his own record label, IFGAM &045;&045; I Feel Good About Myself &045;&045; Records, in the 1990s, a label that now boasts artists Levrado, B.J. Miller and Mac Davis.

And Ealey himself is in the studio working on his next album right now.

Theodis Ealey notes that he loves and plays all types of music, from jazz to rock ‘n’

roll.

But it’s the blues that seem to speak most to his heart.

&uot;Blues is the birth of all of it,&uot; he said.

He added that he feels he has come the closest to mastering blues than any other type of guitar music.

His hometown of Natchez speaks to Theodis Ealey’s heart as well.

He credits WTYJ DJs and his family and friends &045;&045; including nephew David Ealey &045;&045; with helping him get his start.

&uot;I’ll be grateful to my home people forever,&uot; he said.