“The blues also tells deeply human stories of love and loss, hope and struggle. The eleven songs recorded on the American Songbag include lyrics that are about hopes and dreams, lost love, mourning the dead, dreams of escape from jail, heaven and hell and the singers’ hopes and fears for the future.”…

“It’s so important that we preserve and spread blues music because it has such raw emotion behind it. Its origins came from a dark time in history that we can never repeat. Every word that those original blues musicians sang came from truth and heartache. As well, every form of modern music has some relation to the blues.”…

“I would like music to affect people in the sense that they can see and feel what happened to them. For example, that night when they listened to blues, did they feel that the music touched their soul? Or did they feel what the musicians were conveying while they played? Things like that.”

César Valdomir: Harp Attack Blues…

“Music of the past had soul...not after 1976...It's all production now...so it seems the AI may have a future with people that don't know anything about music...most of the music coming out seems to be more like Broadway musical theatre type of music...who knows? Maybe Robots will be the future singers and people will LOVE them!!”…

“The Arts in all forms, breeds empathy, compassion, sympathy, collaboration, communication and life skills like concentration, complex thought, scrutiny, questioning authority and self expression. Without these tools and skills we have no way to express our emotions which get bottled up and build a violent and depressed society.“

Doña Oxford: The Art of…

“Music today gives people a place to connect, escape, and heal. Blues is the root of it all — rock, soul, even hip-hop grew out of it. Preserving and spreading the blues matters ’cause it’s our history, our truth, and it still speaks to what folks are going through now.”

Jay Hooks: Tequila, Bullets &…

“My hope is that the Turkish blues community, which is already recognized and appreciated in the international blues world, will also receive the same appreciation here at home. Normally, people might phrase it the other way around—“we want the recognition abroad that we already enjoy at home”—but things don’t always work so logically in my country.”

Göksenin…

“Without sounding redundant hopefully. As I've said educating, and embracing our heritage, stop making Blues the last thought in the music field. And support the Blues, and live music clubs... Hopefully I made some sense in my responses to your questions. Thank you again for asking me to participate.”

Jimi “Primetime” Smith: My Blues…

“I think that the music is rooted in real southern culture. The bands that again “keep it reel“ are able to pull from their own experiences and translate that to a musical message that transcends and cuts through the noise of the world.”

Darrell Whitt: The Axe of Preacher Stone…

“The Blues will never die as long as we will need to exorcise our demons, daily struggles, heartbreak, or despair. Still, music won’t change the world—it just allows us to create parentheses, moments of peace, in a very troubled world. “

Manu Lanvin: Man On A Mission

Singer, guitarist,…

“Technique is the means to an end. You have to know the technical aspects in order to create a photograph. If your technique is poor the photograph will suffer. It’s the same with other art forms. The photo has to have soul otherwise it would be an empty image.”

Eric Antoniou: Rock to…

“Blues breaks barriers. It brings together people from every walk of life. If you love the blues, you love each other—because the blues speaks to something universal. Its impact is personal. It doesn’t shout—it whispers to the soul. If it brings peace to a troubled mind, then it’s done its job.”…

“Most people forget that blues and early rock ‘n roll are the backbone of almost all popular music today. Looking further back, swing and jazz played a part in the development of early rock ‘n roll. Jazz and swing were in turn heavily influenced by blues music. Remembering the wonderful roots of today’s music lets us appreciate it even more.”…

“The role of music in today's society is fundamental. It's not just entertainment but a powerful tool for personal expression, for bringing people together, for communicating. Furthermore, as I've already mentioned, music—good music—instills in people an aesthetic sense, a critical sense, an artistic sensibility, a sense of humanity, which are then reflected in social life.”…

“The blues has been around for a long time, and it will remain relevant as long as people appreciate genuine heartfelt playing, which we try to bring to every performance.”

Roomful of Blues: Steppin’ Out!

With the new album, Steppin’ Out!…

“Music definitely influences mood and is a universal language etc but it’s also very subjective to each individual. I dunno if thats from brainwashing (a radio station playing the same 7 songs all day etc)  but believe the exact same ideas could be presented differently and be enjoyed (or not) by different groups of people. It's a choice of taste. It either speaks to you or it doesn't. By default, my misic is…

“The biggest fear for us is how quickly music is changing, how much the way we consume music has changed. Streaming is such a big part of people’s lives that it is a necessary evil for artists these days, but I really hope we can compensate people fairly for their art before music becomes devalued so much that it doesn’t mean anything. That would be such a shame.”…

“I think it’s very important to spread the Blues, and as a living and breathing thing it’s important that it also continues to evolve while being informed of its past. It is the bedrock and foundation of all modern North American genres, and its influence permeates through many aspects of our lives. It is also so significant because it is a storytelling medium, in which we can learn from the lessons of the past, but also teach the generations of…

“To me, spirit and music are inseparable. Music is the closest I’ve ever come to touching the divine — it transcends language, borders, and time. Life, in the end, is about connection: to people, to self, to something larger. Music is how I participate in that.”

Ash Ravens: Joyride…