The man and his style were rooted in the Mississippi Delta blues. A pianist, singer, trumpet player, and songwriter who fused jazz and blues with profound lyrics, Mose Allison was a major influence on ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) When I think about the roots of blues music—the raw honesty, the pain wrapped in poetry, the joy carved out of hardship—I think of Ma Rainey. Her voice was more than a sound; it was ...

Mamie Smith set the tone for a new century of sound in global music. The Cincinnati native was the first singer to record the blues. It’s the foundational American music form upon which jazz, country, ...

Early James, a 31-year-old Troy, Alabama native, makes folksy blues music that seems best suited for stoking anarchy while soothing reckless abandon. His newest album, "Medium Raw," was released Jan.

(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s something about Robert Johnson’s music that grabs you by the soul and doesn’t let go. Maybe it’s the rasp in his voice, the haunted slide of his guitar, or the way his lyrics ...

Alabama songwriter Early James embraces jagged, moaning blues on his upcoming third album Medium Raw. Ahead of its Jan. 10 release, the guitarist drops a music video for the track “Tinfoil Hat” that ...

This isn’t a book for the fainthearted. It’s certainly not for the puritanical. This magnificent, raunchy exploration of early blues lyrics contains references so scabrous they would make a pirate ...

Those who complain that they don’t make blues today like they used to, haven’t heard GA-20. This Boston based trio with the unique lineup of two guitars (Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs), drums (Tim ...

“It’s weird, I come back to Austin and there’s murals of me,” Gary Clark Jr. tells the American-Statesman over a late lunch on South Congress at Joanne’s. We’re discussing his legacy: Prodigious ...

Get ready for traditional blues music at its finest, as world-class Chicago blues master The Cash Box Kings headline the final day of the 32nd annual Billtown Blues Festival, Sunday at 5:15 pm, at the ...