Today's Blues:
Blues music today has become a multi-cultural genre with artists playing Blues in every corner of the world. Texas-born
Stevie Ray Vaughan set the music world on fire with his modern combination of Blues
and Rock until his untimely death in 1990. Other modern Blues artists making a mark are: Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeschi,
Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite, and the North Mississippi Allstars
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Tools of the Trade:
The instruments used to play Blues have changed somewhat over the years. Starting out with picks and shovels accompanying
voices in field hollers, the Blues migrated to the guitar as the
accompanying instrument, mostly due to it's portablitily, and is still the dominant instrument today. Another conveinient
portable instrument was the harmonica. With the ablility to bend tones to hit
those "blue notes" and the relative ease of learning technique, the
"harp" is still a signature sound in the Blues. Electric instruments became popular in the 1940's as a way to counter the
loud crowd noise in packed clubs. The piano and the Hammond organ are also used extensively in the Blues. The piano being a basic
instrument in all American music and the Hammond coming from the church. Today the Blues has migrated into the digital world
with drum loops and samplers being empolyed by some artists.
Styles:
Blues styles tend to named after the region where a popular artist resided. Blues styles include:
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