"Blues is a music form that enables to express my feelings and express my deepest emotions."

Kim Simmonds: Rockin' The Blues

Savoy Brown was formed by guitarist Kim Simmonds in 1965 in London, England. Savoy Brown fans might be the luckiest fans in the world. No other blues rock act alive today has delivered so much excellent music…

Miss Mercy: The Priestess of Rock n' Roll 

Miss Mercy, a.k.a. Mercy Fontenot, was born Judith Edra Peters in Burbank, California. Mercy was a member of the GTO's. The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously) were a girl group from the Los Angeles area, specifically the…

"Writers try hard to put into words what musicians express through their voices and instruments – a lot of them wish they could play, and since they can't they try to get close to the power of music with their words."

Al Basile: Words, Music & Rhy(th)ms

Al Basile grew up in a park in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He graduated from Phillips Academy…

"Blues will always reach SOME people because it's so immediate, simple and human."

Johnny Iguana: The Keys of King Lizard

Johnny "Ig" Iguana - born Brian Berkowitz - grew up in Philadelphia, where he studied piano from age eight and played piano and organ in blues bands from age 16. He moved to New York City at age 22, where he met one of his…

"Blues is at the core of everything I do musically. Truthfully I didn't and don't feel a part of Rock culture. Maybe onlookers see me as part of it...I was playing and wanted to be an artist...nothing outside of my own world."

Zoot Horn Rollo: Lunar Notes, Magic Blues

Bill Harkleroad, known professionally as Zoot Horn Rollo, is a prodigious…

"The blues is the common ground, the music of the blues throughout all styles, and the feeling of the blues throughout all peoples."

Jon Paris: The Blues Had A Baby and They Named It Rock & Roll

Jon Paris…

"I miss the value and attention that music once had, when people really listened deeply to a recording or to a live show. I miss crowds of people dancing, and I miss talking to audience members- shaking hands, conversation between sets- without fear of getting sick. I miss performing for people who actually came to hear live music, instead of playing with their phones and talking loudly. I miss traveling."…

"It (music) has always been helping yourself and the people who listen to you to forget for as long as possible all the troubles that surround us all."

Doug James: Mr. Low & His Bari Sax

Baritone sax specialist Doug James was born in Turlock, California in 1953. An early interest in music was encouraged by his mother, an organist in his…

"Re music’s impact sociologically…Its hard to define how and when music actually changes things. It certainly doesn’t work immediately, and it doesn’t work on everyone. What it tends to do is seep into the fabric of society and through popularity, controversy, discussion or its very presence make a difference."

Kevin Godley: Instinctive & Intuitive Music…

"The impact of music on the socio-political, racial, spiritual environment is that it makes people think, and feel, and consider a different way of looking at things and feeling about things. That can lead to action which can then make an actual positive change in whatever the situation is."

David Sancious: Eyes Wide Open

World-renowned performing…

"The blues is music about deep feelings and emotions that can bring back memories, good and bad. It’s a healing music that helps us all get through life’s ups and downs so I think that’s why it will never die."

Mark May:

Music Crossroads, Southern Gumbo

Texas-based veteran…

"I hope it gives cause for many more people to "do music brain." Access to these levels of knowledge, wisdom, and creative potential are unmatched in our human timeline. To waste them would be a great tragedy."

Derek Wesley Arnold: Daydreams In Music

Derek Wesley Arnold is an American songwriter and performer from Clayton, North Carolina. He began…

"I guess my hopes and fears surround whether artists outside of the mainstream, most successful, can survive and live. That the art of making organized noise is valued enough that people can dedicate their life to that craft."

CD Woodbury: World’s Gone Crazy

From a reputation as an ace sideman and “The Northwest’s best kept secret” in the Pacific…

"Make the best of the situation you’re in. Keep an open mind. No matter how many miles you travel, it’s a small world after all."

Pete Thelen: Musical Journeys

A few years after the Second World War, Pete Thelen was born into the American Midwest’s cradle of blues: Chicago. He spent his first seventeen years there, listening to rock and roll and…

"Trojan Records touched me in many ways ... mostly in that it instilled a long and fortunately very lasting appreciation for Jamaican music and culture. That the music from that era continues to excite and inspire is because it is culturally and musically valid, good tunes, well played with feeling and originality by good musicians."

Bob Bell: One World, One Love, One…

"Blues music connects and brings people together on many levels all around the world. Learning about the history of the music you also learn about the culture. You should never underestimate the power of music."

Micke Björklöf: Dr. Blues Healer

Bandleader and singer Micke Björklöf founded Blue Strip with bass…

"Blues started through the hardships of black people in this country, and it spread to the wider audience of a multicultural nation and world. Blues speaks to the human experience because it comes from a place of deep feeling. Most people when they hear the blues, they recognize something in it because they feel the power of it."

Daniel Castro: Deep Strong Blues Love …

"I do think music is a direct reflection of what’s going on in the world yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I also believe with a powerful song you can sway the direction of a culture, but few have ever done that."

Hector Anchondo: All Directions Blues

Hector Anchondo doesn’t just play the blues— he lives and breathes the blues. At 16-years-old, the…

"I believe the music we play at it’s best makes people feel good, want to get up and move, and is an honest, no frills expression of the human experience."

Richard Laitaile: In A Roomful Of Blues

Richard Laitaile (tenor & alto sax) joined Roomful of Blues in 1970 and was there at the beginning of what has become the most legendary…

"Music is the closest we get to the Divine. I would like music to bring people together, make them happy, compassionate and alert."

Foko Bouklis: Heaven vs Hell 

Foko (Fokion) Bouklis is a guitarist and composer currently living and working in Thessaloniki, Greece. Back in 1981, Foko moved to the US to study at Berklee College of…