He has a soft humble voice with a nasal laugh that makes him sound a little like Sammy Davis Jr. the real one, not like the wanna-be imitators. But local vocalist Jim Skinner sings with deep power and control.

Skinner, a blind blues singer, redefines the definition of amateur musician and rebukes the stereotypes placed on the blind.

A black medium-sized dog sat outside the door to Skinner’s small one-bedroom apartment, located on a small road just outside of Carbondale.

No the dog is not mine. It’s a stray, Skinner explained. Don’t let him inside.

He was not strikingly hospitable in previous encounters the most memorable a visit to the local public radio station WDBX where I overheard him expressing his feelings on the treatment of the blind.

Skinner grew up on Chicago’s south side and attended SIUC where he majored in radio and television. He is a no-nonsense man who has been blind since the age of 12 and has sang the blues for 15 years.

Although I sing a lot of blues, I don’t want to be typecast as a blues singer, he said. I don’t want anyone telling me what I can and cannot do. Besides, I think my voice is versatile enough to do a lot of different things.

Skinner’s bold statement is not a display of arrogance it’s a declaration of truth. This allegation was proven when he popped in a tape of one of his recorded performances and a wonderful sound emerged from the black bookshelf stereo.

He sang classic tunes such as Under The Boardwalk, James Brown’s I Feel Good and It’s Cheaper To Keep Her to the music of a talented backing band. The songs sound great.

He had complete control over highs and lows, exercised a developed skill of timing and blended in soulful ad-libs with his unique tenor voice.

From that point on, the conversation flowed as freely as the music from the radio and as smoothly as his rendition My Girl by The Four Tops.

He sang My Girl with so much soul that made the song very easy to enjoy. The audience enjoyed it, too, judging by the background noise on the cassette. One lady could not hold back. She seized the stage and sang along with Skinner.

Doesn’t she sound horrible, Skinner joked. I really had fun that night. The fans love the music. The fans are a big part of why I love to sing.

If it wasn’t for Skinner’s friend Don Moats’ coaxing, Skinner probably would not have never made a move to the music scene on his own.

I did not like singing at all. Moats convinced me, he said And boy did he do a lot of convincing.

After singing with Moats’ band, Skinner was approached by Big Larry, a big local bluesman, who asked Skinner to sit in with his band, an encounter that Skinner said gave his reputation a lift.

Since then he has been with about six bands and dreams about being in one tight-knit band.

He has played in various venues in the Northeast and Midwest. The one Skinner talks about most is New Orleans.

New Orleans was fun. The only depressing part about it was the break-up of the band, he said. That’s the downside of the business.

He talked about a club in New Orleans on Bourbon street called the Funky Parrot. It was a small club with a narrow walkway that went around the entire room and a high stage in the front.

I played five days a week in 45-minute sets for a little more than a year, but I never got tired, Skinner said.

Skinner’s stability at the Funky Parrot was rooted in his love for music, his band, and freedom to write original material.

His stability is seen in his statistics. Skinner has done over 1700 shows in 15 years and he knows his music well, though he has never studied music formally.

It’s a natural feeling a God-given gift, he said. The music is in my soul.

Skinner also feels that the blues is a fading art form because of the lack of African-American’s willingness to carry on the tradition.

I hear the blues being sung by the same people who sang it before. It’s becoming a lost heritage because people are not picking up were the legends left off, he said. When I sing the blues, I feel I’m keeping the heritage alive.

Skinner took a medium-sized pot of boiling water off the stove and poured it into a blue pitcher which he placed into a refrigerator for drinking water.

He said he would rather not talk about what circumstances caused his blindness but would say how it is being blind.

It has a lot to do with the attitude the blind person carries, but it would be a lot easier for blind people if people didn’t treat us like we were worthless, he said.

Skinner does not believe in the theory that when a person loses one of their senses they do not gain ever-increasing amounts of other talents and senses.

I’m really disappointed in the groups and organizations for the blind for saying such things. Such statements have kept me fighting the same stereotypes since I was a kid, he said. Talents are given to everyone and they don’t come polished.

He walked over to the bookshelf shuffled through some cassettes and inserted one in the stereo.

It was a tape of television show theme songs. He whistled along with the old Andy Griffith Show theme music.

I used to always be into television themes as a kid, he said.

Bewitched, St. Elsewhere, Levern & Shirley and Hill Street Blues were among the themes that followed.

The variety of themes on the tape reflected Skinner’s variety of talents, and it is within those skills that Skinner hopes can put him in the place his vocals are welcomed.

Skinner said he would love to do what he’s always wanted to do work with his voice. Skinner said he could be a singer, minister, public speaker or disc jockey. His future outlook he said is always optimistic because of his confidence in God.

I don’t know where my next step is going to be, but I look forward to going. It doesn’t matter where I end up, as long as my talents are appreciated, he said.

FACTOID:Jim Skinner can be heard Thursdays from

2 to 4 p.m. on his show At Random on WDBX 91.1 FM.