According to many textbooks, the blues is a genre that was born in the rural Mississippi Delta with roots in the “sorrow songs” of enslaved people. It’s easy, however, to poke holes in this origin story and instead start to see the blues as a joyful, rebellious musical expression that formed in an urban environment.
In this episode of Folk Files, we’ll take a look at different theories about the origin of the blues, separate fact from fiction, and uncover the reason why the Mississippi Delta narrative was promoted so strongly.
(Content warning: this episode has occasional explicit language and sexual references.)
LISTEN: APPLE • AMAZON • REDCIRCLE • MP3
For a list of all musical excerpts used in this episode, click here.
Visit the Delta Blues Museum.
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Host: Olivia Harding
Assistant Producer: Aaron J. Morton
