When the Rolling Stones fell in love with American blues music as teenagers in England in the late 1950s and early ’60s, the grand old men of the genre they idolized were 20 to 30 years their seniors.
Since the early 1900s, blues musicians have performed in Shreveport. In the late 1950s, bigger name acts began performing in town while the 1960s saw the development of local record labels such as ...
Etta Baker, 93, an influential blues guitarist who was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts, died Saturday in Fairfax, Va., her family said. The cause of death was not announced, but she had ...
New to the blues? Here’s what you need to know to get you started. Blues music is a genre that grew out of the American dream. Its roots were firmly planted in the New World before it migrated to ...
We need to be upfront with you. The Reader is free. Producing it isn’t. And without your support, we can't continue. So we need you to chip in, even if it’s just a few bucks. The average donation is ...
Ken Tucker reviews Robert McCormick's Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey, and Robert Mugge's Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker's Journey Through American Music. This is FRESH AIR.
NPR's Scott Detrow talks to Smithsonian curator John Troutman and blues musician Dom Flemons about a new folk album, Playing for the Man at the Door, from late chronicler Mack McCormick's collection.