Hi Robert 1

Oh man it is so cool too find yet another BL who loves the Blues like I do. I love pretty much the same artists that you do. I love the old artists as well as the new, up-and-coming artists. I dig the old artists who pioneered this style of music back in the late ‘40’s through the 50’s and 60’s, both the black men and women and the white boys who invaded the Blues clubs of Chicago in the mid-50’s and managed to reach a completely new audience back then. I absolutely adore the history of the Blues, especially everything that happened in Chicago in the 40’s and 50’s. Artists like Muddy Waters (I spelled his name right this time), Howlin’ Wolf, and Etta James (oh Lord I LOVE Etta!). Then came a new bunch of white boys from the suburbs; Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, etc. They, along with their contemporaries in England (geniuses like John Mayall and Eric Clapton), brought the Blues to the forefront of popular music at that time and introduced a whole new, and young, audience to the Blues.

Oh I could go on and on about how the Blues played such a huge part in shaping modern rock and pop music, but there isn’t enough time or space here. Jimi Hendrix was actually a huge bluesman who took the music to another place. He is one of my biggest music heroes and I know I am far from alone. God only knows how many guitarists and musicians he has influenced over the few years he was alive, then especially the many years after his death. I am one of them. One of Jimi’s biggest guitar influences was Buddy Guy, who I am so glad is still alive because he is one of my favorites as well. Then there is Stevie Ray Vaghaughn; who almost single handedly brought the Blues back during the very strange 1980’s. And as long as I am “in Texas” (Where Stevie was from), I must mention Johnny Winter, whose slide guitar is still one of my favorites. As is Duane Allman (another genius).

Anyway, recently I have been exploring Robert Johnson. About five months ago I decided that I truly needed to have an excellent collection of old Blues albums on CD if I am going to really be able to call myself a Bluesman. I have a few lists of “essential Blues Albums” and as I am able, I have been buying them, mostly online from stores like Amazon. Of course the complete collection of Robert Johnson is in every list, so I bought it (it wasn’t cheap!). I know he was Eric Clapton’s biggest influence, so I keep putting it on and listening to it. I also have a subscription to the magazine, “Blues Revue”, which I personally recommend because every other issue includes a CD of new Blues artists. A VERY good value and resource for the Blues enthusiast.

I have attended two major Blues Festivals and three minor ones in the past five years and just love it! One of the most memorable artists that I saw was a young harp player by the name of Jason Ricci. I remember that right after his mind-blowing harmonica solo; someone standing next to me commented that they thought he was Gay. And after reading an extensive article about him in Blues Revue, I found out that this is true. He said that the Blues is the perfect music for the Gay community, although that community has had an extremely difficult time accepting him because they can’t seem to connect with that kind of music as of yet. And the Blues community has the same problem because they can’t connect with the idea of a Gay man playing the Blues. But I agree with Jason, what could be a more perfect music for gays…or (the way I see it) B.L.’s. Ours is a life filled with blues, so why not love that music?

Anyway, that is all I can write for right now. I'm so glad you love my favorite music too.