Whiteboy Blues

I find people are often curious, appropriately, as to why white folk, or any color folk for that matter, perhaps having no real exposure to hard times are so captured by the blues. It’s really no mystery. This musical genre is born of the experience of suffering – a universal emotion to us all. We have all been there at one time or another, and so it’s likely we can relate, at least on some level. But the enchantment with the blues has a deeper resonance than just the suffering itself, as I tell my 6 year old daughter. The pioneers of this genre certainly had their share of suffering, but they took that and then did something additionally, going beyond the actual experience of their suffering – they sang about it. Presumably the calmness and even semi-conscious narcosis achieved when chanting a repetitive melodic verse, or playing a mono-chordal drone on a crude handmade string instrument, helps to keep the darkness away – helps to keep the pain at bay. And there you have it – comfort in the face of calamity. That is the inexorable, ethereal draw of the blues. That is the brilliant stardust, uniquely and tragically American, which draws us all in. Son House (above) has been quoted – “White folks hear the blues come out, but they don’t know how it got there.” So therein lies the challenge - to spread the gospel, through word and in tone, to enlighten this and hopefully future generations of this priceless, truly original American heritage, and hopefully prove Mr. House wrong. The pioneers of this genre paid the price to own this music – in blood, sweat, tears, and even with their lives. By playing this music and honoring it with our attention hopefully we can pay back all the pioneers with dividends of appreciation for generations to come.

We need to know how the blues got there.