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Blues for the beginner

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So I recently saw the film Black Snake Moan, liked the music so much that I went out and bought the soundtrack and came to the realization that I like blues music! I've always been a metalhead at heart, so I know next to nothing about blues or it's artists. Does anyone have any good suggestions of who I should check out? I recently downloaded some B.B King and I love it. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks all!

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While I sometimes have trouble with the "blues" label, I would suggest Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton (early), Muddy Waters, J. Geils Band (early), Long John Baldry, Blues Traveller, David Wilcox, Big Sugar, Black Joe Lewis, and The Allman Bros and Gregg Allman. I guess I like the blues too.

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Try the other Kings, Albert and Freddie. Both electric blues, both great players. For someone a bit newer (and someone who plays slide), how about Derek Trucks?

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Guest **ng***1

If you like BB King, check out Joe Bonamassa. He is a protege of BB King. He first played with him when he was 12. Great stuff. Stevie Ray Vaughn, George Thorougood, Dr. John are all staples of the Blues, check out Bluesfest lineup. But don't really look at the main stage acts, but check out the smaller stages acts. They tend to be really good and you can usually check them out on YouTube.

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I love Blues, but I also find that it can be a very vague term an that there are many different types of blues....soulful, harder, dark, grass-roots-type, contemp. etc.....

 

Bluesfest is gonna be oh-kay this year (not extraordinary) but theres a great local blues band called the Powergoats who played last year and will be there this year....they have a broad range of sound, some soul but lots of dark emotional stuff and on the same note some very upbeat stuff. they have been featured on dawgFM and are doing some awesome things with their sound, extremely tight!

 

aside from that band a great way to expose yourself to some live local blues (the best way to really get itno it in my opinion...fun!) is to check out the rainbow bistro on Murray in the market 24/7....if you've discovered a love for blues, this could become your new home ;-)

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If Blues is a new interest, you can tune in to Chez106.9 on sunday at 6pm or wednesday 11pm for the House of Blues radio hour, with Dan Akroyd (aka Elwood Blues from the blues brothers).

 

You can check this website too on the show ...

 

http://www.thebluesmobile.com/

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I'm no blues expert (did my avatar give that away!), but I play guitar and read a lot of guitar magazines. As noted earlier, there's a lot that can fall under the category of "Blues."

 

I'd say the music in Black Snake Moan is more "Delta Blues" with a rough, earnest, rural sound. Usually solo acoustic or smaller ensembles, often with a slide guitar and/or harmonica (both of which give it that slurring sound). This was the origin of the Blues and starts with Robert Johnson.

 

Chicago Blues was the next evolution, as those musicians moved to the city, joined bigger groups and got electrified. Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, etc. These would be classics from Chess Records recorded in the 50's 60s.

 

Most Classic Rock "borrows" heavily from these two threads. Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, etc. Their albums are full of straight blues covers.

Cream's "Crossroads" was originally a Robert Johnson song.

ZZ Tops' "La Grange" is basically the most standard 12-bar blues format.

Other examples abound of blues covers, 12-bar blues format songs, and tons of pentatonic riffing (pentatonic being one of the most common/popular blues scales).

 

As for more modern Blues players SRV is, of course, legendary for his brash, stinging tone and ferocious playing. You cannot go wrong with the Allman Brothers/ Warren Haynes/ Gov't Mule/ Derek Trucks "family." And, I agree, Joe Bonamassa is amazing. But none of those players are going to sound like the raw blues on the movie soundtrack.

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Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!! It's much appreciated! Should keep me busy for a while lol. Keep 'em coming! :)

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