Blues Zombie

For the past few weeks, our younger daughter has been studying the great drawing videos of Monster by Mail, the summer work of an artist who will create a custom zombie image for you. The videos are great fun to watch (with songs provided by unsigned independent bands). One thing lead to another, and I had to try my own hand at a "blues zombie"... enjoy!

Emotional Connection

List night, I was listening to Fred Dixon play some old, mournful blues, and I was totally captivated. Sure, the guitar was there, but it was clearly in the background. It was Fred’s voice that carried the song.

That got me to thinking… I have some recordings of some amazing blues guitar players and amazing singers, but not all of them hook me like Fred did last night. On the other hand, I have some recordings of some pretty rough-around-the-edges singers and guitar players that are totally mesmerizing.

So what’s the hook? I don’t think it’s a mystery—even the American Idol mentors and judges harp on it—the hook is emotion that flows from the performer to the audience.

In the blues, I think that the emotional connection may be even more essential (than in other musical forms), since the context of the song often centers around a raw and emotionally challenging experience. Within that context, success in a performance occurs when the performer can break down that suspension of disbelief in the listener and get the audience to believe that the pain (either from a bent guitar note or a raspy line of verse) is real for the performer.

MoMo Blues at MVBF

Last weekend, the IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival roared into LeClaire Park in Davenport, Iowa for three days of non-stop blues. Each year, I look forward to the event... not for seeing acts I know about, but for hearing blues performers that I've never heard-of before.

The festival takes place across two stages (a main bandshell and a "tent stage"). For me, the tent stage always showcases the most unique "old school" performers, and the closeness of the crowd make the experience more intimate.

This year, we attacked the blues festival with t-shirts in hand to advertise the upcoming Old School Guitar Heroes festival in Monmouth. We gave most away during the Catfish Keith show, and had a great conversation with Catfish after the show.