11 Great Books About Blues
Thu, 08/24/2017 - 4:59pm
Read All About It!
Blues is a fantastic style of music to play and listen to but it’s also a fascinating story. Learning more about who created the music, what their lives were like, and the world they lived in will make your blues experience richer and help you understand the meaning behind the notes you play.
Here’s a brief introductory list (presented in no particular order) of informative and readable books about general blues history, styles, and people. From any of these titles you can follow threads to go deeper into specific subjects like regional styles and the lives of influential blues musicians. While brick-and-mortar bookstores that stock blues-related titles are extremely rare these days, all of these can be found online somewhere for purchase:
The Story of the Blues - Paul Oliver
The Blasters End-of-Summer Tour Dates
Mon, 08/07/2017 - 10:27am
Time keeps flying and fall is just over the horizon. Between now and then, I’ll be on the road with the Blasters in Texas, California, and around the East coast. If any of these happen to be in your neighborhood, I look forward to the chance to meet you.
Texas
- Fri 8/11 Houston McGonigels Mucky Duck
- Sat 8/12 Houston McGonigels Mucky Duck
- Wed 8/16 Dallas Gas Monkey
- Thu 8/17 San Antonio Jack’s Bar
- Fri 8/18 Austin Continental
- Sat 8/19 Austin Continental
California
- Sun 8/27 Saratoga Mountain Winery (with Dwight Yoakum)
- Thu 8/31 Highland San Miguel Casino
- Fri 9/1 San Francisco The Chapel
- Sat 9/2 Reno NV Trocadero
- Sun 9/3 Sebastopol Sonoma Cajun, Zydeco & Delta Rhythm Festival
Eastern US
- Sat 9/16 Lancaster PA Tellus 360
- Sun 9/17 Ringwood NJ Drew’s
- Mon 9/18 Rochester NY Abilene
- Tue 9/19 Buffalo NY Tralf Music Hall
- Thu 9/21 DC Hill Country
- Fri 9/22 Maplewood NJ The Woodland
- Sat 9/23 NYC Hill Country
- Sun 9/24 Philadelphia Kung Fu Neck Tie
- Wed 9/27 Hamden CT Ballroom at the Outer Space
- Thu 9/28 Pawling NY Daryl’s House
- Fri 9/29 Newport RI Parlor Bar
- Sat 9/30 Somerville MA Once Ballroom
How Do I Learn to Improvise on Guitar?
Wed, 07/12/2017 - 4:52pm
When blues and jazz first became popular over a hundred years ago, one of the things that set them apart from other styles was a radical new idea: improvisation. Singers and musicians didn’t just perform the same melodies every time, they “jazzed” or embellished them so that each performance was unique. From then on, each generation of performers studied the improvisations of their peers and those who came before, added their personal twist, and joined a chain of influences that leads right up to the present day.
After more than a century, however, there is still confusion over what it means to improvise and how you learn to do it. The Blues Guitar program here at ArtistWorks covers the subject in detail, but here’s a brief FAQ-style overview of improvising in general and blues improvising in particular.
Does improvising mean spontaneously coming up with original ideas?
Keith Wyatt Talks Blues on Guitar Speak Podcast
Thu, 06/29/2017 - 9:15am
Keith was featured on the Guitar Speak Podcast recently, check it out!
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