為人所知的音樂類別(藍調)已經經歷過一段很長的旅途. 藍調多次的往返跨越北大西洋, 順著密西西比河蜿蜒而上, 從南部鄉村到北部的都會區. 它已經跨越了種族與階級的界線, 從亂七八糟的黑人娛樂館轉移到高級的音樂廳.

藍調誕生於美國南部種植棉花和菸草的農場, 從田野呼喊歌曲發展演變而來, 為了表達受盡折磨的非洲黑人奴隸與他們佃農後代的悲哀與苦難而被創造出來. 雖然曾經被認為是"惡魔的音樂", 藍調現在已經被公認是美國主要的藝術類型. 它為爵士, 節奏藍調, 搖滾樂, 甚至於嘻哈音樂奠下了音樂基礎並影響了幾個世代人所聽的熱門音樂.

到今日, 您可在世界各地發現藍調愛好者, 音樂家, 表演場地, 音樂節和廣播節目. 但儘管具有國際吸引力, 藍調的根源與靈魂仍然在密西西比三角洲的淤泥水中, 在東德州的灰塵路上, 和山麓高原的青翠田野中.

The musical genre that has come to be known as the blues has made quite a journey. The blues has traveled back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and meandered up the Mississippi River from the rural South to the urban North. It has crossed racial and class boundaries as well, migrating from rough and tumble juke joints to sophisticated concert halls.

The blues was born on the cotton and tobacco plantations of the South, descending from field hollers and created to express the sorrow and tribulations that plagued enslaved African Americans and their sharecropper descendants. Although it was once consid- ered "devil's music," the blues is now recognized widely as a major American art form. It has influenced popular music for generations by providing the musical underpinnings for jazz, rhythm & blues, rock & roll and even hip-hop.

These days, you can find blues aficionados, musicians, venues, festivals, and radio programs almost anywhere in the world. Yet despite its international appeal, the roots and soul of the blues remain in the silty waters of the Mississippi Delta, the dusty roads of east Texas, and the verdant fields of the Piedmont plateau.