The Blues is the name given to both a musical method and the music genre that originated in African-American communities throughout the Deep South in the US at the end of the 19th century. This originated with work songs, the hollers through the fields and simple rhymed ballads. The blues form is very pervasive in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. The actual sound, or blues notes are played flattened or gradually bent in relation to the pitch and the scale, and is a major part of the all-around sound. The Blues possesses certain characteristics such as lyrics and the instruments involved in making the music of the style.
Of course the subgenres of Blues are plentiful and range from country to urban, but the best known are the Delta, Piedmont, Jump, and the Chicago blues style. Each has a very distinct sound, and after WWII the sound evolved even more with the invention of the electric guitar, evolving the music even farther into blues-rock of the 60’s and 70’s. The term the blues came from the blue devils, that meant melancholy and sadness, and this originated in a song from 1798, the first copyrighted Blues song was in 1912.
Of course there is still a great love and appreciation for the music and the South offers many festivals. The Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival is held annually at the end of September, and are celebrating their 36th festival in 2013. This festivals purpose is to reach out to a worldwide audience with a celebration of Mississippi Delta Blues culture. They tell the American story of the Delta blues and use the festival as a forum to preserve the culture. Mississippi Delta Blues exists in its folk culture as well as American pop culture. The music was and is an expression of poetry, ritual, dance, and music. It was and is a way for black singers across the south to have a literary voice. This festival is a legacy of a living culture.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival is one of the nation’s leading platforms of Blues Music. The festival takes place over Columbus Day weekend in October in Helena, Arkansas. There are tens of thousands of people that travel here for the musical and cultural experience every year. This is also a Delta Blues fueled music festival that you are sure to hear even with the name Blues, amazing and uplifting performances.
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