“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.”

Fruteland Jackson: All About The Blues

Fruteland Jackson is a storyteller, educator, passionate keeper of the blues tradition, and skilled multi-instrumentalist who sings in a powerful rich and warm tenor in the old country blues traditions. Fruteland grew up in Chicago.He has been on the scene for over thirty decades and is a writer and educator (a significant contributor to Blues In The Schools programs), as well as a working musician. He has played with many of the great acoustic musicians, mostly sadly no longer with us: Honeyboy Edwards, Homesick James and Henry Townsend. Fruteland Jackson says: “Through words and music, I explore the roots and rhythms of this powerful art form, sharing tales that stretch from juke joints to classrooms, from Mississippi Delta lore to modern-day reflections. I believe that blues is more than music—it's a language of lived experience. My mission is to connect generations through storytelling that’s both raw and poetic, spotlighting the joy, pain, and spirit of the blues. Whether you're a lifelong blues lover or just discovering its soulful pull, I'm glad you're here. This space is for conversation, connection, and celebrating the legacy that brought us all together.”

(Fruteland Jackson / Photo by Bruce Greenaway)

He is many times Blues Music Award Nominee and a recipient of the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive” award. Fruteland performs Americana; acoustic blues, folk traditional and singer-songwriter styles around the world. Fruteland Jackson created the award winning *All About the Blues Series - Blues in the School Programs. His program motto is “Try, Trust and Triumph”. Fruteland plays acoustic guitar with a focus on pre-war and post-war blues ranging from Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy to Elizabeth Cotton, plus his personal interpretations. His study includes ragtime, Piedmont, Delta, and other styles. He studies mandolin, lap steel and the banjo, and has published an instructional book on Delta Blues for Beginners (Alfred Publishing).

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has music influenced your views of the world? What does blues mean to you?

I wouldn’t say music influenced me—it expanded me. It cracked open the door to the world and let me walk through it. Music gave me a passport to places I’d never dreamed of, and each stop along the way added a new layer to how I see people, cultures, and time itself. But like anyone else, I had to take life as it came. The music I chose to carry with me—well, it carried me too. Through joy, heartbreak, and everything in between.

Now flip the question: What views of the world influence the music? That’s where the blues lives.

Blues has been the center of my adult life. I’ve lived it, breathed it, and when my time comes, I’ll die a bluesman. I stand for the forgotten, the ‘buked and scorned, the ones who never had a voice. Blues is the poor man’s psychologist. It’s the antidote to daily trials, the balm for a weary soul. When the world turns cold, blues music warms the spirit. Sometimes, all we’ve got is a song—and thank God the blues heard my cry.

How do you describe your sound and your songbook? What’s the balance between technique and soul?

My sound is natural—raw and rooted. I play acoustic guitar and write songs drawn from my life, my blues, and the blues of others. I keep my themes contemporary, but my style? That’s old-school. I walk in the footsteps of giants like Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy. I’ve met some of those legends before they passed, and I carry their spirit in every chord I play.

Technique is the skeleton, but soul is the heartbeat. Without emotion, it’s just notes. With it, it’s the blues.

“It matters because blues is one of America’s greatest gifts to world culture. Every popular style we hear today has a little blues in its DNA. We owe it to the future to tell that story.” (Photos: Fruteland Jackson)

What moment changed your life the most? What have been the highlights of your journey?

The Great Recession shook me to my core. But receiving the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award for education—that was a light in the storm.

Heartbreak has been my teacher. Losing relationships, losing family—those moments carved me into who I am. The good things? I welcome them, but I never expect them. They feel like the way things should be. The hard times? They’re the ones that shape you.

What do you miss most from the blues of the past? What are your hopes and fears for its future?

I miss the men I played with—David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Homesick James, Jimmy Lee Robinson. They were walking history, and playing beside them was like touching the roots of the tree.

I’m hopeful that some form of the blues will always survive. But I worry. My generation made the call to “keep the blues alive,” and without programs like Blues in the Schools, we risk fading into the background like so many other genres. I’ve reached over a million students with my school programs, but it’s a tough sell without local radio and TV backing you up. Young folks today aren’t drawn to blues the way we were. That’s the truth.

What’s the impact of blues on racial and socio-cultural issues? How do you want the music to affect people?

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.

“Blues has been the center of my adult life. I’ve lived it, breathed it, and when my time comes, I’ll die a bluesman. I stand for the forgotten, the ‘buked and scorned, the ones who never had a voice. Blues is the poor man’s psychologist. It’s the antidote to daily trials, the balm for a weary soul. When the world turns cold, blues music warms the spirit. Sometimes, all we’ve got is a song—and thank God the blues heard my cry.” (Photo: Fruteland Jackson & Alan Lomax, Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale, MS 1995)

What lessons have you learned as an educator and keeper of the blues tradition?

The 12-bar blues—the 1-4-5 progression—it’s magic. That tension and release, no matter the lyrics, is what makes blues timeless. Willie Dixon said, “Blues are the facts of life,” and he was right.

I’ve learned that young minds get the blues. They love singing it, writing it, playing it. Willie Dixon, my mentor and the spiritual godfather of Blues in the Schools, started this movement in Chicago back in ’71. I’m proud to carry that torch.

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today? Why is it important to preserve and spread the blues?

I give presentations—libraries, schools, anywhere folks want to hear the story. My program, Blues 101: The Emergence and Evolvement of Blues in American Culture, is a one-hour lecture performance that traces the roots and branches of this music.

It matters because blues is one of America’s greatest gifts to world culture. Every popular style we hear today has a little blues in its DNA. We owe it to the future to tell that story.

What keeps a musician passionate after all these years? What connects poetry and blues lyrics?

A gig and an audience—that’s the fuel. Knowing someone’s listening keeps the fire lit.

Most of my songs started as poems. Over time, they grew choruses and found rhythm. Poetry and blues? They’re first cousins. One speaks, the other sings—but both tell the truth.

Fruteland Jackson - Home

(Fruteland Jackson / Photo by Bruce Greenaway)