Ahhhh the Blues...

Nobody can agree (it seems) on what it is or it ain't..

Consider this...

The song "Come Rain Or Come Shine"..Blues..?
Most people would say no.....

BUT.. lets say the only version of that song you ever heard was the one by Ray Charles..or better yet..the one by Albert King...well..I think most folks would say "Wow...what a cool blues song"

Blues is (in my opinion) in the doin'..not in the structure..

Frank Sinatra singing "One for My Baby" ain't nothing but the Blues..as Blues as Jimmy Reed..or Luther Allison..or whoever...

The way the "genre" concept is administered these days seems limiting to me..
I most often am cast as an "Americana" artist...I honestly don't know what that means...
The assumption seems to be that people don't want a variety of sounds and styles from one artist anymore...
I think that's wrong..
It's something we've been sold by the merchandisers cause' it makes it easier for them to market product..

My CD did real well..almost 6000 units with no real publicity..most of the CDs were sold from radio exposure on WGN or off the stage at live gigs.
In both of those settings I do a really varied mess of songs..from silly folk novelty songs to straight ahead blues to standards...
All of those styles are represented on the CD..It works for me and I think it would work for everybody.( provided they are genuinely fluant(sic) in the various styles employed)
We're not giving the audience enough credit..we're trying to outthink them when we narrow our art to a specific "genre"

I'm sure that many (including Brian) will say that I'm not being realistic..that I'm not viewing the current scene as it really is vis a vie marketing and such.

That certainly may be so...but...I think I'm right.

Bob



[This message has been edited by bob young (edited 08-25-2003).]