"To be courageous, kind, respect myself and others and make sure I'm surrounded with good people. It's always important to be kind and meet people where they are, but also important to set boundaries for yourself and take charge of your own life, music and career."

Sahra da Silva: Music Crossroads

Copenhagen…

"So for me blues music and the people I've met in it make myself keep a sense of humility first off. Because at the end of the day, we're all people. Don't matter what race, creed color your are. We're human, we're people. So it teaches me to stay humble, grateful and I try to stay kind."

Ivy Ford: Kismet Blues in the Windy City

Known as The…

"I think if you believe the above to be true and we are, whether we realise it or not, living at a critical moment in history; and we each take our small role in it seriously, then it’s beholden on us to at least try to plant  the seeds of some kind of conscious awakening."

Ken Lowe: Keeping the British Satirical Draughtsmanship Alive…

"Obviously, having hit records changed my life, but the “key to a music life well lived” is happiness, both professionally and personally. In that sense, I’ve been very lucky."

Steve Katz: Blood, Sweat & Rock n' Roll

Steve Katz is a guitarist and record producer who is best known as a member of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Katz was an original…

"I think that, in the future, human beings will become 'proto- humans', Human beings will slowly become 'Proto' for instance by including technology in their own bodies, chips inserted in their veins, so they don't have to use passwords to open the door is just the beginning."

Graham Nash: Eyes and Ears Artistry

Legendary artist Graham Nash, as a…

"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…

"Performing blues music and bringing our show to fans around the world has been very gratifying. We’ve learned that music is the “universal language,” and people from all parts of the world relate to blues music in a positive way. Traveling throughout the USA, Canada, and overseas has introduced us to so many wonderful folks, and we’ve seen that the human family is basically…

"I think that the genre (Blues) needs to be embraced, taught and shared in a broader sense, it has to be accepted, supported and respected more by black people here in America first. I think people can be made to understand how this music has been so important in the development of our place culturally in society."

Alabama Mike: The Future of the Blues…

"The current state of the music industry consists of a quite diverse sound and different genres. However, I believe the Blues is still going strong and fans have been loyal to the scene for many decades now. Blues is the foundation of popular music and its roots will hopefully keep growing for many years to come. Therefore, I believe it is a matter of generations, how one passes the information to another. That way, there is a great…

"The Beats loved jazz, Kerouac wanted to be a jazz writer, but they also appreciated classical music and other forms of music. Notice the shout-out to Ray Charles at the beginning of Ginsberg’s “Kaddish.” What really helped keep the Beats alive was their influence on rock music: Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, The Clash, Nirvana. Rock lyricists are the true heirs of the Beat…

"You need to play freely from your heart, and I believe you play the most free when you are making music you love. Let your emotions shape the sound, the phrasing, the melodies, and the riffs and grooves. I think if you have enough chops to express what you feel, and you can put your soul into every lick you play, then that's a music life well lived."

Pete Anderson: Making A Great…

"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,…

"I put my heart and soul into my music and my performances. It’s an extension of me and all the history that made me what I am. Everyone interprets music in their own way, shaped by their experiences. That’s the beauty of life, it is all intertwined. Follow your dreams."

Willie West: Soul Heart & Blues Soul

Willie West is one of the original…

"Music has always affected the way people live their life, example - in the mining camp days, you would go to the saloon after work, and the piano player would be relating all the news from the last mining camp, it used to be the heart of information as they were the only ones traveling from town to town to spread that information. As far as my music goes, I’d like to bring people together and make them feel and think about things they love and things…

"I am not sure it can and remain the “music industry”. AI applications writing songs? Making melody? I am not sure that is music, certainly not without the most important element of all: a human behind it. Music is live performance - it’s not video, it’s not film, it is human beings working together on stage, without a net, without an algorithm, doing a collaborative process that is imperfect and fraught with danger because it is “in the moment” and goes by…

"I believe the impact of Blues on culture has lessened in recent years, although it is still prevalent. I think the most important impacts are made by the preservation and teaching of the history behind the genre. Learning about what inspired and influenced the pioneers to start this genre, and the social climate at those times."

Pierce Dipner: Goin’ Back To My Roots…

"Music is a vibration that is felt and transmitted on different frequencies. No matter what the music is called by others, it will be recognized by those able to receive the vibrational waves from the medium."

Joe Charitos & Paul Miles: Cool Blues

French musician Joe Charitos and American born Paul Miles (of Swiss-based duo of Joe…

"I think that the Blues continues to generate a devoted following in Europe and around the world for many reasons; because people recognise themselves in the Blues, we hear our own experiences, and we feel the expression as personal and yet shared. As Blues is at the heart of Rock and Roll too and is core to Jazz and so many music genres, I believe that people respond to Blues as something familiar yet perhaps unexplored."…

"The Blues is its own genre. As in Jazz, Rock and Roll, etc. It goes all the way back to the Delta to the present and has developed into the most beautiful musical art form in the world. It's the pallet that is in every genre of music that is out today."

Scott Ellison: Preaching The Blues

Tulsa, Oklahoma native, guitarist and songwriter, Scott…

“It’s the same with anything and everything: follow your heart and don’t expect to please anybody but yourself. They say if you do what you love the money will follow. It worked for me. I’m not rich by any means but I have a good life all considered.”

Charlie Musselwhite:

Blues from the Heart with a Feeling…