Cecil Abels is Mr Sippy. He says "Some folks have asked where the name came from, now I'll tell you as best as I can remember... The name came from my email "handle" that came to me a distant memory from some Larry McMurtry novel I read a long, long time ago. It seemed to fit since I was born and raised in the great state of Mississippi.... Mr. Sippy from Mississippi".

Mr. Sippy on Food , Family and Music:

Almost anyone born and raised in the deep south can relate to these things at a very personal level. If they didn't then they probably aren't the best representatives from the region. Church dinners "on the ground" revival's, brush arbor's, parties of all sorts, weddings and of course, funerals featuring any number of dishes from catfish and hushpuppies to slow smoked BBQ. With the exception of football, basketball and of course huntin' and fishin', these were the events that made up our daily lives. No ski trips to the mountains, no cottages on the lake, no trips to Mexico or the Caribbean and only rarely out of the state at all. Family Reunions, oh yes, you want to talk about the best food on the planet. Every Aunt has a specialty....One always brings butterbeans that are so small and tiny you don't see how they shelled them, but they are the BEST in the world! And then of course there's always Mama's biscuits! Cookin' and enjoying food, family and "company" is a Big Deal!

I was lucky to be born into a wonderful family. I was the youngest, and toddling around the floor or on family car rides was assimilated into the 3 and 4 part harmony singing of my Mama and three sisters, even Daddy would sing on occasion; but mostly he just told great stories of growing up a sharecropper child in the depression. He drove the speed limit, smoked Winston's and listened to us. I could get right in there with them at a very early age.

Lots of folks sing in Mississippi, in churches, picnics, just all around. My mother's family, Burrell, had 12 brothers and sisters and they all sang and played various stringed instruments. They played on local radio stations in the 1930's and 40's. Also, living on a farm, my Mama learned and sang field hollers and spirituals she learned from the African Americans that worked there. These are some of our most fun and lively family songs still.

Don't wonder where I learned to sing or harmonize.... jus' look here...

Mama, Glenda, Carla and Marylou.... inspired harmony! .... this was at my wedding 1980

I joined the Navy and traveled quite alot, first as a Hospital Corpsman and later as an Environmental Health Officer. I started a family of my own and sometime later (1997), I retired from the Navy. I've taken a number of interesting professional and semi-pro positions since, like: West Nile Virus Coordinator for the State of NH, Alternative School Teacher-Head, Entertainment Director at a large Lakeside Function Hall, Cancer Control Rep. for the American Cancer Society. All along, playing in acoustic bands and putting together music festivals and...BBQ's.

Just prior to retiring from the Navy, my family bought a 200+ year old farm house on an original 90 acre piece of land that we've been settling ever since. We're still there and going through some big changes, but that's life. I'm very proud of my two adult children Cecil (III) and Kate and their Mom Irene who's been a huge help to me through the last 25 years.

It's fair to say that I've been playing music, cooking and entertaining all my life.