“The Impact of the Blues on American Music” Featuring the Rev. Robert Jones

The Rev. Jones will explore the impact of the blues on American music through stories and songs. American music has an amazingly eclectic mix of styles drawn from the many communities that make up American culture. Is American music rock ‘n roll, or R&B, or country, or Bluegrass, or gospel, or rap? Well, while these styles are clearly different from one another, they do have common roots. American music is rooted in the blues.

Rev. Robert B. Jones, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and storyteller, takes his audience on a journey starts with the folk music of the mid 19th century and continues to the present day. His premise is that American music is what happens when European music met African music in the deep South. The seminal style that came out of that mixture was the blues. Early blues artists like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, and Son House brought this music into the twentieth century where it was further shaped and molded by performers like Jimmie Rodgers, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf, Mahalia Jackson, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke and so many more. The impact of blues on American music is deep and profound. Visit his website at Revrobertjones.com.

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