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IN THE EARLY 1900S, AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES CREATED A SOUND THAT
CAME TO BE CALLED THE BLUES. DERIVED FROM SPIRITUAL CHANTS AND WORK SONGS IN THE FIELDS,
BLUES MUSIC NOWADAYS IS EVERYWHERE.
REALLY IS. THE BLUES IS A STYLE AND TRADITION THAT HAS FANS AND PLAYERS AROUND THE WORLD.
IN A SERIES OF REPORTS, VOA'S HOUSTON-BASED CORRESPONDENT GREG FLAKUS LOOKED INTO THE
HISTORY OF THE MUSIC GENRE, AND HE TALKED TO ME ABOUT WHAT HE FOUND.
THE BLUES WAS FIRST PLAYED BY AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN PLACES LIKE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA
SOUTH OF MEMPHIS.
A LOT OF MUSIC THAT WE HEAR THAT YOU WOULD SAY, OH THAT'S THE BLUES, DOESN'T NECESSARY
FIT IN THAT CATEGORY OF MUSICOLOGY, IN TERMS OF MUSICOLOGY. BUT IT'S SOULFUL, IT EXPRESSES
A FEELING. AND I THINK THAT'S THE BASIC THING THAT PEOPLE WOULD IDENTIFY. EVENTUALLY IT
BECAME MIXED UP WITH WHAT WAS CALLED JAZZ, WHERE YOU HAD INSTRUMENTS LIKE TRUMPETS AND
CLARINETS AND SAXOPHONES AND ALL. AND SOMETIMES THOSE TERMS ARE VERY SIMILAR IN TERMS OF THE
MUSIC. BUT THE BLUES HAS AFFECTED ALL KINDS OF MUSIC. MOST OF WHAT WE LISTEN TODAY, ROCK
'N' ROLL, COUNTRY WESTERN, ALL OF IT THAT HAS BEEN INFLUENCED BY THE BLUES.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SPREAD OF BLUES MUSIC INTERNATIONALLY. BECAUSE YOU TALK ABOUT ITS
ORIGINS BEINGS AMONGST AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE AMERICAN SOUTH, BUT NOW WE'RE SEEING PEOPLE
FROM ALL DIFFERENT PLACES ACROSS THE WORLD PLAYING BLUES.
THAT'S RIGHT AND IN FACT, SOME OF THE BIGGEST FANS ARE IN EUROPE. AT A TIME WHEN THE BLUES
SORT OF WENT OUT OF FAVOR HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, BRITISH FANS, FOR EXAMPLE, WERE COLLECTING
RECORDS.
RIGHT AND YOU FEATURED SOME VARIOUS BLUES SINGERS ACROSS YOUR REPORTING. TELL US ABOUT
SOME OF THOSE? SOME OF THOSE SINGERS AND PERFORMERS AND MAYBE THE STORIES THAT STRUCK YOU MOST?
WELL, WHAT I FOUND THAT IN HOUSTON WHERE I'M BASED, THERE WERE A LOT OF CLUBS PLAYING BLUES
AND THERE WERE A LOT OF UP AND COMING GROUPS PLAYING THERE. AND WHEN I STARTED INVESTIGATING
THIS, I FOUND OUT THAT ACTUALLY HOUSTON HAD QUITE A TRADITION OF BLUES MUSIC AND OF COURSE
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE WAS LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS WHO LIVED MOST OF HIS LIFE IN HOUSTON
AND BECAME WORLD FAMOUS FOR HIS STYLE. AND RAY CHARLES LIVED FOR A WHILE IN HOUSTON.
SO IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THESE YOUNGER PEOPLE TODAY ARE TAPPING INTO THAT HERITAGE
AND KEEPING IT ALIVE AND DOING IT IN THEIR OWN WAY.
ERIC HOOVESTOL WHO SINGS WITH THE WHITE LIGHNINS FROM HOUSTON, IS A FAN OF HIS CITY'S MOST
FAMOUS BLUESMAN, THE LATE LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS.
HOUSTON BLUES HAS A LOT OF HISTORY AND LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS WAS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE FORERUNNERS
AND I WANTED TO RESPECT THAT SO WE NAMED THAT BAND THE WHITE LIGHNINS TO HONOR LIGHTNIN'
HOPKINS.
NOW YOU WENT TO THIS INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES NOW, YOU
WENT THERE IN MEMPHIS. TELL US ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE?
WELL, YEAH, WHAT I DID WAS I HAD GOTTEN TO KNOW THE BLUES PLAYERS IN HOUSTON WHO HAD
BEEN SELECTED BY THE HOUSTON BLUES SOCIETY TO GO THERE. SO I WENT THERE KIND OF FOLLOWING
THEM TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AND WHEN I GOT THERE I FOUND ALL KINDS OF OTHER INTERESTING
GROUPS AS WELL.
ARTISTS FROM 40 U.S. SATES AND 16 FOREIGN COUNTRIES CAME TO THE CONTEST ON BEALE STREET,
WHERE THE BLUES HAS BEEN PLAYED FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY. DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE BLUES FOUNDATION,
JOE WHITMER, SAYS MANY MUSICIANS FEEL REWARDED JUST PERFORMING HERE.
SURE, THEY COME AND COMPETE; SURE, THEY WOULD WALK AWAY WITH PRIZES, BUT HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PLAY AT LEAST TWO NIGHTS ON WORLD FAMOUS, HISTORIC BEALE STREET MEANS THE WORLD TO THEM."
ONE OF THE MAJOR ASPECTS OF YOUR REPORTING, YOU DID A STORY ON WOMEN AND THE BLUES AND
THAT'S A VERY INTERESTING HISTORY?
YES BECAUSE WOMEN WERE AMONG THE, IN FACT THEY WERE FIRST RECORDING ARTIST IN TERMS
OF BLUES HITS. MA RAINEY FOR EXAMPLE. BUT OVER THE YEARS, MEN CAME TO DOMINATE IT AND
TODAY MOST BLUES GROUPS ARE EITHER MEN OR THEY MIGHT HAVE ONE FEMALE SO SOME OF THE
FEMALE PLAYERS HAVE TAKEN TO THE FORE AND ARE TRYING TO FIND MORE OF A NITCH FOR THEMSELVES
AND PROMOTE THEMSELVES MORE.
WE OFTEN HAVE TO FIGHT HARDER TO GET THE SAME RESPECT AS THE GUYS, SO WE HAVE TO BRING IT
HARDER, WE BRING IN EVERY BIT OF FIRE, PASSION AND SOUL THAT WE HAVE GOT.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS SERIES?
WELL I THINK THERE ARE TWO THINGS. ONE WOULD BE THAT THIS IS A MUSIC THAT CAME FROM AMERICA.
THE ROOTS ARE HERE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY AND SHOULD REALLY BE PROUD OF THAT AND CELEBRATE
IT. THE OTHER THING THAT THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT. THE FACT THAT THIS KIND OF MUSIC SPEAKS
TO PEOPLE IN OTHER CULTURES, IN OTHER COUNTRIES THAT THERE THAT RESONATES WITH THEM. THE BLUES
SEEMS TO BE UNIVERSAL. IT SEEMS TO TOUCH PEOPLE IN MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, IN MANY DIFFERENT
AREAS OF THE WORLD.
AND AGAIN THAT WAS VOA'S GREG FLAKUS. YOU KNOW, GREG ACTUALLY DABBLES IN SOME HARMONICA
PLAYING HIMSELF AND YOU ARE ALSO A MUSICIAN SO MAYBE SING US A FEW BLUES NOTES ONE DAY
THE TWO OF YOU COULD PLAY TOGETHER...
I LOVE THE BLUES . IF I START SINGING RIGHT NOW, THE SHOW IS GOING TO END AND I'LL JUST
KEEP SINGING . I'D LOVE TO JAM WITH GREG AND OUR E.P. MARTIN ON THE GUITAR.
O.K. SO ONE DAY...WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE CLIP MAYBE FOR FACEBOOK...WE WILL...SING THE BLUES...
ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT