Miles Caton Joins Buddy Guy At The 'Tiny Desk'

Miles Caton is having a career-making year. The star of Sinners picked up two individual awards this season. He won the Outstanding Breakthrough Performance award at the 57th NAACP Image Awards for his role as Sammie in the historic Oscar-nominated film. He also secured the Critics’ Choice honor for Best Young Performer.

This week, he had another chance to show off his skills, playing with blues legend Buddy Guy. It’s Guy that you see at the end of Sinners as the grown-up version of Sammie. The two appeared on Tiny Desk with Caton acompanying guy and his band.

Caton, 21, started singing as a child, mentored by his mother and aunt, who were both gospel singers. The Brooklyn native experienced his first viral moment when he sang the Nina Simone classic “Feeling Good” online. That clip made it into Jay-Z’s “4:44” video. A few years later in 2018, he appeared on the show Little Big Shots, eventually touring with H.E.R. while he was still in high school.

That led to his big break, playing the young blues singer in Sinners. H.E.R. suggested he audition for the movie, which required Caton to play guitar. That was the one hitch, but once he was cast, he was a quick study on guitar after being mentored by Philadelphia jazz artist Randy Bowland.

Caton has been on the Sinners promo tour with Oscar-nominated director Ryan Coogler and Oscar-nominated actors Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku. The song he sings in the movie, “I Lied To You,” written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson, is also nominated for an Oscar, so it’s expected Caton will perform during the Oscars, airing at 7 p.m. on CBS on Sunday, March 15.

But his Tiny Desk debut came with an unexpected challenge – keeping up with Guy, 89. The blues icon established the Chicago blues scene, inspiring future guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not only has Guy won multiple Grammys and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he’s also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

In their joint performance, Guy gave Caton an unexpected on-the-spot lesson in improvisation, while maintaining his legendary live show humor and axe skills.

Social media is ecstatic that the two hit up the NPR offices and are grooving accordingly. See the reactions below.