[Harp-L] Is live blues dying out?

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

Short answer yes.  IMHO the number one reason is the lack of family friendly
venues for blues players.  Kids hear country, metal, hip hop and rock
through their own culture.  Blues is not a part of that culture and they
usually have to be of drinking age before they can hear it regularly, if
then.  Further, there are no blues radio stations in most of America.
Unless you have satellite radio, you have to live in a very large metro area
to have a blues station you can hear in your car.  No radio exposure, no
familiarity.  And finally, the point can be raised that blues is less
attractive to younger people than other music forms because of its style and
content.  Until you get a few years of experience behind you, it doesn't
make a lot of sense.

Possible solutions?  (1) Encourage clean blues acts that can play
comfortably in family friendly venues.  (2) Campaign to have blues treated
as a form of jazz by the local arts communities and thus be given the same
performance opportunities on college campuses, public schools, etc.  (3)
Encourage blues programming on local radio stations and look for fanatic and
wealthy blues fans who might bankroll a low power community radio blues
station in your area.  (4) When playing family friendly venues, work some
gospel blues and/or positive message blues into your song list.

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK