The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #12417   Message #98244
Posted By: Roger in Baltimore
22-Jul-99 - 07:06 PM
Thread Name: Who plays Blues and Why ? Just wondering
Subject: RE: Who plays Blues and Why ? Just wondering
Blues, blues, blues. I sing the blues because they touch me somewhere deep inside. The blues have a "feeling" and they pass it along. They are the music of the beat down, twisted, rejected underdog who just refuses to take it lying down. Just like some drinkers can "drink themselves sober", when I'm down I can often sing enough blues to make me happy again.

And the blues are a challenge. They are varied and range in difficulty just like good jazz music. I like "feeling" more than speed. It seems few modern blues players have both.

I like the spaces the blues player leaves for you to fill up anyway you want.

Sometimes I am embarassed to play the blues, because I fall so short. But I play them because I love them.

I learned my early blues second hand from the likes of John Hammond, Jr. and Koerner, Ray and Glover. I worked my way back to the original sources.

Roger in Baltimore