Every so often, an intrepid news reporter informs us that the blues is dying or dead. Oftentimes this polemic ends with an exhortation to visit a blues club and celebrate the last gasps of an artform that spawned Elvis, Run DMC, and yes, even Miley Cyrus. Well, I'm here today to offer proof to the contrary, and it's a video of young folks dancing to an acoustic blues trio (Ronnie Shellist, Matt Hendricks, and myself).
Many of my compadres in the blues "industry" aren't aware of the blues renaissance happening among the dance crowd. Blues dancing is now at least as popular as lindy was years ago and these folks hire bands and buy CDs! Like its musical counterpart, blues dancing's strength is its accessibility - it's not as structured as other forms of swing dancing and slower tempos are preferred. International events like Mile High Blues, bluesShout!, and CUBE see hundreds of dancers flying in for a weekend of dances and workshops, and blues dancers pop up at clubs and festivals. These folks are pretty much the opposite of your typical blues fan demographic, too, they're young, single, the majority are female and they're all enjoying an alternative to socializing in sports bars.
Someone will probably point out that most of the participants in the video are white, in an effort to prove me wrong and foster division in the genre. Dig this... Most musicians of any stripe don't care about race: either you can play or not. Let the academics debate and sell their books, magazines and symposia tickets - I've got tunes to learn and gigs to do. At the end of the day, it's the music, and people's enjoyment of it, that matters most.
Many of my compadres in the blues "industry" aren't aware of the blues renaissance happening among the dance crowd. Blues dancing is now at least as popular as lindy was years ago and these folks hire bands and buy CDs! Like its musical counterpart, blues dancing's strength is its accessibility - it's not as structured as other forms of swing dancing and slower tempos are preferred. International events like Mile High Blues, bluesShout!, and CUBE see hundreds of dancers flying in for a weekend of dances and workshops, and blues dancers pop up at clubs and festivals. These folks are pretty much the opposite of your typical blues fan demographic, too, they're young, single, the majority are female and they're all enjoying an alternative to socializing in sports bars.
Someone will probably point out that most of the participants in the video are white, in an effort to prove me wrong and foster division in the genre. Dig this... Most musicians of any stripe don't care about race: either you can play or not. Let the academics debate and sell their books, magazines and symposia tickets - I've got tunes to learn and gigs to do. At the end of the day, it's the music, and people's enjoyment of it, that matters most.
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