Well, seems that we used to have this smae discussion at the barbershop... The style of blues played there is primarially in the Piedmont style (John Hurt, John Jackson, Elenor Ellis, Cephas & Wiggins, etc) and especially my last couple years playin' there I was growing more and more in north Mississippi hill country groove and the folks knew it... Yeah, I could jam on the Peidmont stuff but felt less and less like leading songs in that style... There were several players who enjoyed my Mississippi style and would ask me to lead songs in that style even though alot of the folks didn't have a clue and wouls sit those songs out...

The point is that, seein' as we always seemed to have new people, the discussion about what constitutes the blues and what doesn't would come up over and over... The oldtimers would say it's all blues and therefore it was all good...

Does taht mean that I think that Kelly Joe sounds like Bukka White or Arthur Crudupp??? No... Nor did Skip James of Blind Lemon sound like them... But there is a soulfullness to Kelly Joe that is as "believable" as the soulfullness of Skip James of Blind Lemon...

I mean, good blues not only tells a story but the meduim is very much a part of the message... I mean, yeah, Eric Bibb and Corey Harris and Guy Davis all grew up in upper middle class families far away from the culture of the plantation and far away from those influences yet all have convincingly blues sound...

So, yeah, I think that the blues can be learned and not only learned but folks can carve out their own sounds within the genure as Eric, Corey and Guy, among many other have done...

Jus MO, of course...

B~