Monthly Archives: October 2015

For this assignment, we were instructed to write to an audience unfamiliar with whatever topic we were writing about. This put tremendous pressure on picking a genre that I was well versed in so I decided on some sort of music given my interest and familiarity with the genres and decided on doing blues rock as it presented a music type I was both familiar with and consistent enough to allow me to explain it concisely; this combination was very much opposed to my original plan to write about indie rock, my personal favorite genre, but is all over the place style and form wise. The writing skills felt fairly basic, simply connecting my points with the overarching theme, being the genre conventions of blues rock, and then connecting the points together. It was however a challenging thinking exercise. As said above, I picked a topic I was very familiar with which in the end hurt me because I needed to work in citations after the fact, causing very heavy revisions later. An important note I made for future research projects was to get my sources BEFORE writing and build my paper around them, not the sources around my paper. I relied too heavily on my own knowledge and ended up hurting the quality of my writing. This can be seen throughout my writing, mainly around the in-text citations, where I felt they seemed choppy and almost off-putting. Limited time was also a heavy influence on this paper and was definitely a lesson in proper time management.

One of the longest lasting, most impactful and boasting the widest scope of all music genres has been the blues. Originally hailing from small, southern African American communities in the late 19^th century, the blues has since spread to all corners of the world and has become one of the best examples of American culture being exported across the globe (Bloomingdale School of Music). The blues was created from the bonds of slavery, mixing spirituals, field songs, shouts and personal stories to create the classic narrative style, beat driven and rhythmic form known today (Bloomingdale School of Music). But how did 19^th century folk survive and continue to thrive 150 years later? It did so by transforming itself for the modern age by combining with the styles of rock and roll thus creating blues rock (Bloomingdale School of Music). Exploding in popularity in the 1950’s and 60’s, the music movement was spearheaded in England and made popular by the likes of Jimmie Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. Today, blues rock has evolved and continues to thrive in the form of dozens of high profile musicians and bands as well as thousands of local groups across the country.

Blues rock is made of a fairly simple structure; it can even be completed by just one man maintaining a steady beat or by a few inspiring music enthusiasts in a garage, which many advocate is a major draw to its popularity. The blues consists of, for the most part, of a narrative style vocal part, often focus on a depressing event, misfortune or a broken heart. The guitar is crucial and extremely important; it is steady, strong, rhythmic and can be played either acoustically or electronically. Electric bass and drums, while not required, often share these traits. Instruments of all types can be played in the background or even as the center piece, such as the harmonica, various string instruments and piano (Little Bill and the Blue Notes). Recently, blues rock has seen the integration of computer synth into its music (Auerbach).

These traits and even the most traditional style and elements of blues can still be seen today in the work of the contemporary artist Gary Clark Jr.; most notable in his song “When My Train Pulls In”. It’s an original piece, but would not in the slightest sound out of place in blues rock’s heyday. From its long guitar solos, distortion and narrative, the song could easily be a cover of Jimmie Hendrix. Listening to the lyrics: “Everyday nothing seems to change. Everywhere I go I keep seeing the same old thing and I can’t take it no more.” (Clarke). Shows that same emotional styles that connects it to the legends of the past is still popular and can be replicated today. Gary Clark Jr. has several songs in the same throwback style and has experienced great acclaim for it, proving the genre’s longevity and appeal across time.

Blues rock however does not always need to conform to the old style. As said above, blues rock has been rapidly experimented with in the past few years and has achieved great success with the album Turn Blue by The Black Keys released just last year (Fricke). In this album The Black Keys, an already extremely acclaimed blues/garage rock band, experimented with mixing psychedelic beats, hip hop elements and The Black Keys signature blues sound (Fricke) to create an extremely unique set of music still grounded in its genre. The song “Weight of Love” I feel really excels at keeping the classic bluesy guitar riffs and emotional vocals while mixing with a psychedelic flow in the background creating something truly unique. “Weight of Love” and the rest of the Turn Blue album really shows how adaptable the blues can be pressing forward into the modern era and that the genre has a secure future.

However the real popularity of the blues is that it can be created by anyone; remember, that the genre only even came about because of slavery, created by people who had literally nothing but a story and the rhythm to tell it with. This is still true today, thousands of people in ‘garage rock’ bands write, play, cover and perform the blues all across the country, using the same style and instruments as the legends of the genre and famous contemporary artists above. One such example is the small garage band “The Dead Tapes” recently experienced massive fame over the internet, achieving nearly half a million views on their homemade video “Where Did She Go”, a feat many contracted bands cannot boast. The band consists of two friends, a guitar, a drum set, a megaphone, a metal rod and some duct tape in their backyard, it doesn’t get much bluesier then that (Leon). Their performance even attracted the attention of professional music critics, hailing their work as “genuine in a way that attracted me along with 467,843 other viewers” (Leon). While obviously taking influence from the famous guitarist Jack White, their spin on the style has not only led to online fame but to an actual record deal (Leon). Once again showing the longevity and popularity of the genre.

As one can easily see, the blues, despite being around for over a century, is not going away anytime soon thanks to its continued and prominent role in American and world culture. The classics of the genre remain incredibly popular across the world, contemporary artists regularly replicate this style and continue to change its form through their own individual styles and ideas and the younger generation obviously has interest in it and continues to produce their own homegrown blues across the country.

Works Cited

Auerbach, Dan. Turn Blue. The Black Keys. The Black Keys, 2013-2014. MP3.

Bloomingdale School of Music. “INSTRUMENTS IN DEPTH.” Instruments in Depth. Bloomingdale School of Music, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Clark, Gary, Jr. When My Train Pulls In. Gary Clarke Jr. Gary Clark Jr., 2011-2012. MP3.

Fricke, David. “The Black Keys Turn Blue Album Review.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 5 May 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Leon, Matthew. “Look at This.” Artist Profile: The Dead Tapes. The Scene, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

“Little Bill and the Blue Notes.” Little Bill and the Blue Notes. Little Bill and the Blue Notes, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.