Until August 10, 1920, record companies didn’t even try to sell music to—or by—black people. But on that day Mamie Smith, a 37-year-old medicine show singer from Cincinnati, barreled into a New York studio.
Hear Mississippi Heat call up the “La Cucaracha” ghost of Big Walter Horton on this highly-danceable, brand new track!
Though fifty years have passed since Cooke’s shocking death, the music he crafted and the legacy he built remains a powerful cultural staple. His life was filled with a rare destiny, creating music with an extraordinarily unusual staying power that reflected his true genius
The Blues Music Awards nominations have been announced. With six nominations each, Elvin Bishop, John Németh…
Chicago Blues All Stars Are creating a bold new vision for the blues, breathing new life into it, and bringing the blues to audiences that might not have even paid attention to it before.
LeniStern_BluesSoulAfricanHeart_DebraDevi The blues is a universal language, and electric guitarist Leni Stern’s fluency has…
Claudia Carawan blows away this album with her full and powerful voice!
This week in blues features a hard, hard week for soul music, a busy day for Jimi Hendrix, a powerful recording session with Sonny Boy Williamson, as well as Walter Horton and Junior Wells milestones, among others! Read on!
It was 1969, Zeppelin recorded a track for their album Led Zeppelin II. A song they took credit for writing, called “Bring it On Home.” You may know it. Goes like this. Great song. One problem though – they didn’t write it.
I’m a CRAWILN KINGSNAKE…. John Lee Hooker used to say. But this word’s meaning digs DEEP — back to Africa. Uncover the mysterious and fascinating origins of “Kingsnake”