Not sure that "too technical" is what I was talking about, Big Al... Maybe too much filler when Blind Lemon played more simple with less filler... The ol' "when in doubt leave it out" lesson applies to the "country blues"... Chicago blues??? Different story...

I learned the blues from Sparky Rucker and he learned 'um from Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi "country blues" which is played more simply so that the stories can be told without having the music overpower the story, many of which dealt with some very serious subjects...

Yes, you want the rhythm and beat to have that Southern slashing "thang" going but you want to keep pretty close to your chording structure, be it 1-4-5 or 4-1-4-1-5-4-1 or 1-1-1-1-1-1... The "turn arounds" even need to conform to that structure... In other words, if you are playing "country" blues you should be able to sit down with other "country blues" players and everyone is pretty much on the same page with not much deviation in structure... You should know where you are supposed to be at any given time in the song...

I know that makes me sound pretty traditional and in that sense I am...

B~