Buddy Guy is a legend! The last time I saw Buddy Guy perform was a tribute to his late friend Jr. Wells. Almost a century later, he is better than ever and a little spicy while roasting the Grove audience. Buddy is known for helping younger artists achieve success. Opener Eric Gales may be young in comparison; yet, was epic on his own. Continue reading “Show Review: Buddy Guy and Eric Gales Bring the Blues to Stern Grove”
Tag: Blues
Podcast Review: City in Exile
Podcast fiends, here’s your new addiction.
Brendan O’Loughlin recently launched the inaugural episode of his podcast titled, City in Exile. It’s a document of the ever-evolving cultural capital of California, San Francisco, and more specifically, it’s O’Loughlin’s love letter to the city he grew up with. San Francisco is also my favorite city in the country and watching it evolve, and seemingly devolve, from the place I used to escape to in my youth has been both mystifying and depressing, but those of us who pay close attention recognize that all things change and we find ways to recapture those ephemeral bits that made us fall in love with the city as it continues to change.
Black History Month Series: Delta Blues to Rock and Roll and Beyond
It’s not possible to overstate the influence that the Mississippi Delta Blues has had on contemporary music. Every popular artist you can think of, from Beyonce, to Garth Brooks, and even Skrillex owes their due to the music which has some its origins in the West African music brought over by people kidnapped by the Dutch to become slaves in the American south. Blues forms the basis of rock and roll’s rhythms and instrumentation, and the blue notes as well – the flat 3rd, 5th, or 7th note that gives a more melancholy sound to the melody- is derived from blues. It was Muddy Waters, an early blues musician, who first started bending guitar strings while playing, in a departure from the classical style of guitar. Even jazz has its origins in the twelve-bar blues structure that grew out, at least in part, from southern work songs, chants, call and response, and spirituals sung by slaves, former slaves, or sharecroppers. Some researchers have made the case that blues emerged as a genre after the Emancipation Act, influenced strongly by the teachings of Booker T. Washington, and coinciding with the emergence of a Southern free black secular community.
Continue reading “Black History Month Series: Delta Blues to Rock and Roll and Beyond”