Jimmy Holmes is the last in a line of music legends as he seeks to keep a singular American art form thriving Jim Beaugez Photographs by Timothy Ivy The worn hands and nubby fingernails of Bentonia, ...

Old music is understandably relative. It can come with baggage, attachments, bias and context. It can be a go-to, a safe space, a place where the feelings ...

The blues is a fascinating art form, because its conventions point to suffering and pain; it is called the “blues,” after all. But the individual styles of the artists who perform it draw out ...

Muddy Waters once sang: "the blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll." But it's more than rock… the blues makes a strong case for itself as the most influential sound in American music ...

The blues is ripe with legends and myths, not least the oft-touted claim that W.C. Handy was the father of the blues. But as Darryl. W. Bullock tells it, there is an important tract of blues history ...

INDIANOLA, MS ‒ On the stage at Club Ebony in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, blues artist Alphonso Sanders sings an original song called “Delta Sun,” dedicated to life in a hot and challenging ...

One of the biggest misconceptions about blues music is that the genre is all about doom and gloom. Naturally, many blues songs feature lyrics about being down in the dumps, love lost, and heartbreak.

As the National Museum of African American Music opens its doors, journalists from the USA TODAY Network explore the stories, places and people who helped make music what it is today in our expansive ...

New to the blues? Here’s what you need to know to get you started. Blues music is a genre that grew out of the American dream. Its roots were firmly planted in the New World before it migrated to ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio - On Thursday night, Music Box Supper Club will become a rockin’, rollicking blues joint as award-winning, singer-songwriter-guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks and band command the club’s ...