“I think one of the biggest similarities is the swing feel. A lot of Indian rhythms are swung which is why Blues and Jazz are accepted. The people can move to it the same way they can to their own folk music. European and Indian classical on the other hand have very straight feel rhythmic patterns. It’s hard to dance to that.”…

"I learn to keep myself disciplined, to have fun and enjoy the people around me."

Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith:

Keeping The Blues Alive, Well and Fresh!

Kenny Smith was unquestionably born into blues royalty. He grew up in the same house where Muddy Waters once lived in Chicago, the home of…

"I feel that not just Blues, but all music is among the greatest gifts the human race can give to the world, we are all equal and deserve to live a life on this planet!"

Big Dave McLean: Yes! This is a Blues Life

Big Dave McLean is a true icon of the blues in Canada. Having received the Order of Canada in 2019 - one of the very few Blues…

"Clarksdale is the birthplace of the Blues. Most people who travel here are looking for something. And I really don't know what that something is, maybe the presence of the fellas who started it all, I'm not sure, but I heard there is a feeling when you come here. And a lot of people come here to chase that feeling or they want to stand where Robert Johnson stood."

Anthony “Big A” Sherrod: Bluesman's…

"That no matter where you are in this world, music can connect people with people, generations with generations, and the more music we create the more connections we can make."

Joseph Boudreaux Jr: A Bridge of Culture 

New Orleans outfit, The Rumble, announced that they will be releasing Live at the Maple Leaf on May 19th. "My…

"My hope is that the younger generation will push forward this wonderful form of music and keep it going well into the future and keep the Blues alive."

Big Joe Maher: Let The Rockin' Roll

Joe Maher aka "Big Joe" started out his music career in his Maryland high school jazz band "The Starliners.” Musician greats like Clark Terry, Urbie Green,…

"Music is a different, but very powerful medium for reaching people - for giving ourselves hope, purpose, a sense brother/sisterhood, and just having a hell of a good time! Which we sorely need, all of us, in a challenging world."

Big Harp George: The Artisanal Blues

Big Harp George/George Bisharat is a San Francisco Bay Area blues singer,…

"I miss the musicians that moved me deeply. Some I knew, and some I never met. I hope musicians continue to think that making great albums is important, as is knowing how to connect with a live audience. I hope those art forms never die."

Grant Dermody: Behind The (Blues) Sun

Singer, songwriter, and acclaimed harmonica player Grant Dermody's…

"New Orleans music has the deepest roots of all American music. The grooves there are derived from generations passed, sometimes refined, sometimes raw, always grooving. It’s the origin of so much modern music, from rock-n-roll to blues to jazz, and often all mashed together in the same song. There is a looseness, freedom, uninhibited vibe to the whole city, and it shows in the music."

Jimmy…

"Blues is the root, everything else is the fruit. Many music lovers today don't know this. So it would be nice to educate music lovers about the history of this beautiful music called BLUES. It is the foundation that most modern music is built on. It would be a shame to lose the root."

Big Daddy Wilson: The Music Key of Love

Big Daddy Wilson was…

"In the beginning music was so young and fresh, people were excited to try new things and there was lots of opportunity for experimentation. Nowadays with technology things can sometimes become a bit repetitive."

Big Pacific: Rockin On The Blue(s) Waves

Big Pacific is Vancouver Island's premier original…

"Music has the ability to bring people together regardless of any sort of status. I love watching that happen."

Gravel & Grace: Bringing the Blues

Gravel & Grace is an innovative R&B Blues group that has taken the stage by storm. The seven piece band is fronted by Big Earl Matthews, a twenty plus year Blues legend, and Ava Grace, a…

"Blues was Black people's music. It brought Black people's struggles into the consciousness of White America. I think it was Keith Richards who said that Blues was America's greatest gift to the world."

Bill Blue: The King of Crazy Town

Bill Blue born in Aberdeen N.Carolina and raised in Yorktown VA, Bill first picked up a guitar when he was at…

"Blues is a way of life...Blues artists just want to have fun."

Robert Jr Whitall: Big City Blues Colors

Robert Jr. Whitall is publisher and editor-in-chief of Big City Rhythm & Blues magazine. His interest in art was discouraged by his parents but his creative talents would flourish through four decades of photography and music promotion and…

"Well I think we all know that blues was created in the south by African Americans. Using a lot of their influences and speaking of their experiences. It comes from a lot of emotions. Truth be told I stay away from politics so I really don’t know. As far as racial implications, blues nowadays is loved by every color and every ethnicity at least in my experience. Like I said before, it is a healer."…

"I believe in American, European and African history of the twentieth century, it has been greatly influenced by black music and movements against racism and in favor of human rights and has gone in parallel with the growth and transformation of the blues from its origins, from cotton fields to industrialization in large cities such as Chicago, New York, LA where it evolved to reach all corners of the world by way of Rock or Rock & Roll like Chuck…

"Yes music today is totally guitar based rock...the swing from the by gone era has left...even blues tends to be more rock then anything else my fear is there will be no one left to carry on the swing."

Big Joe Maher: Rockhouse Party

Joe Maher aka "Big Joe" started out his music career in his Maryland high school jazz band "The Starliners.”…

“My Dad was the Father of the blues and one of its founding members. His music has affected generations of musicians and he will ways be my musical hero.”

“Mud” & Big Bill Morganfield: Muddy Waters Legacy

Larry “Mud” Morganfield eldest son of the undisputed king of the Blues Muddy Waters has been delivering his charismatic Chicago blues of the…

"I hope that the blues continues to thrill people for many, many years. I think it will. It connects with listeners in a way that most music doesn’t."

Mark Robinson: Southern Roads

Mark…

"There is no doubt that blues and jazz and dance and other African American art forms have opened the doors of understanding to the richness and the depth of black culture thereby creating understanding and acceptance."

Big Joe Fitz: Swinging Roots…