CNN Reports: "Blues Power: Mississippi Cashes In"

In a segment entitled "Building Up America", CNN looks to Clarksdale, Mississippi where the Blues is thriving!

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/building.up.america/

Clarksdale makes the blues accessable to everyone. Thanks in part to the efforts of the group now known as 'Three Forks Music' Blues music is being seen more as it IS rather than how it is portrayed by idealists. It scares me a little when so many people seem to believe that the future of the blues is in the hands of guitar slinging white youngsters. Before we put all our eggs in 'the next big' basket, take some time to explore the current (and recently passed) artists of the Delta and Hill Country scenes.

Here is an excellent place to start: http://www.livebluesworld.com/profiles/blogs/m-for-mississippi-record

Does anyone else here on LiveBluesWorld have a favorite local Blues artist who's really been here all along?

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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on August 2, 2010 at 4:21pm

Thanks Jeff, I enjoyed the article.

Live music in general has been on the decline for a long time and for many reasons. You had mentioned a "rapid decline of viable music venues". (aside from the fact that so many artists are passing on) Do you think Delta Blues has been hit harder than other styles of music?

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Konkel - Broke & Hungry Records on August 2, 2010 at 5:10pm

I don't know that the demise of Delta jukes has been any more rapid than the demise of music venues elsewhere, but I do think that the impact is felt more acutely. Many or most of the traditional Delta blues players are not able or interested in traveling great distances to perform. With no jukes to book them, most of these artists are relegated to wiling away their final years at home without an audience. Maybe they're invited to a local festival two or three times a year if they're lucky. In the meantime, blues lovers are crawling all over the Delta in search of real-deal blues artists, often without success.

I know these are hard times for all musicians . . . but things were pretty hard to begin with in the Delta.

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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on August 2, 2010 at 8:34pm

Yeah, the Delta is uniquely tough. Though the rise in tourism has been good for Clarksdale, the Delta is a big place. Add to that the Hill Country region and tourists have a lot of ground to cover. It's hard to get that real Juke Joint experience and still get back to the airport on time. Jeff, you'd probably know better than most anyone, it's harder still to export that experience. Not too many folks can hang with T Model Ford. Hearing (not seeing) The Mississippi Marvel at Sarah's Kitchen, that's tough to duplicate.