Recently read a book titled The Blues - Why It Still Hurts So Good, by Marie Trout.
Chunks of it are based on answers to questionnaires she sent out to blues fans
Lots of quotes in there that burned a hole into my brain.
Like "...................and I've often said that being a blues fan says more about you than just your taste in music."
I agree. I am admittedly a music snob. I believe my taste in music is exceptional - especially The Blues - and my tastes say a lot about who I am.
I believe blues lovers are musically educated. Beyond that - and more importantly to me - I believe they are naturally empathetic. Music is all about emotion, and blues especially so. Blues music channels directly into your soul, and arouses the fierce emotion we try to hide. It opens you up and allows your emotions to mix with the music, and in that state you make meaningful connections with other blues lovers. Humans. Human beings.
When I was undergoing radiation for prostate cancer, there was a youngish guy on the radiation team that I got along with. One day he asked what kind of music I like. When I said "the blues" he lit up. We talked, he recommended a group from Iceland called KALEO. Fucking Iceland. I never would have discovered these guys if it hadn't been for my radiation buddy.
Check their videos out on YouTube. Many are set outside amidst stunning beauty.
When I was having melanoma hacked off the back of my left shoulder in 2016, Dr. Feelgood asked what kind of music I liked. He immediately had the music in the room changed to blues and we talked blues throughout the operation. He was a very cool guy who, coincidentally, performed Carol's mastectomy as well.
Disclaimer: Not all of my blues connections center around cancer.
Through this book I learned that "the typical blues fan today is white (well over 90%)." How did I not notice this? I have been to a million blues concerts. As soon as I read those words I realized it is absolutely true.
Why is this? Blues originates deeply from the black culture. Makes no sense. Until you read this book.
What Marie Trout discovered through conversation, questionnaires, and connections (her husband is Walter Trout - renowned blues guitarist) is that black people in the 1960's abandoned the blues for funk and soul music. Because this was a generation of revolution, and they felt blues lyrics were too "careful."
Which is true. The original blues musicians could not say what they really meant because they'd get beaten and killed for it. So they made sly references to the vicious assholes who hated them.
Every time I assume I'm an expert I learn something new.
The typical blues fan today is "older (eight out of ten are between 45 and 70 years old)."
This I know. This is why I get excited when I meet a young blues fan - this music must carry on.
I also learned that a lot of today's blues fans discovered the music through musicians who covered original songs. The fans then went back in time to learn about the originator.
That's how I got started. There was one song on The Allman Brothers debut album that was not written by them. It's called "Trouble No More". It was written by Sleepy John Estes and made famous by Muddy Waters.
It caught my ear, I did my homework, and became addicted to The Blues. Amazing.
Hope you are excited. I decided to talk about The Blues today, for a change.
Ciao, baby.
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