I'm like a lot of late 1960s early 1970s folks. I started with Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Stones. The liner notes led me to Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, the world of electric guitar slingers. I ended up in the Delta with Skip James, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, et. alia. The music just grabbed by soul. It was so raw, so powerful. Just a man( or a woman, let's not forget Memphis Minnie) and a guitar.

I really liked the old recordings before digital cleaned them up. The scratches, etc., gave the songs a "deep space" sound to my ears. You knew this was music from way, way back in time. Sometimes I get a deep, ancestral, roots feeling. The blues fills my soul, speaks and laughs.

"I'm gon' get me religion. I'm gon' join the Baptist Church. I'm gon' act like a preacher, so I sure 'nuff won't have to work." -- Son House.

I love that line! It has all that bragging and signifying that I love about the blues. And not just blues, but ragtime and all the other styles of acoustic music black folk played in the early part of this century. People like Rory Block, Paul Rishell, Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart and God knows how many other "names" are keeping the music alive. Not too long ago some friends and I started the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation (www.acousticblues.com). Check it out! Peace.