Blues on My Mind

How do we recount stories that project out into the future? How do we think about a time when wrongs will be righted? What does karma sound like in a blues song? Explore these questions in Freddie King's "Someday, After Awhile."

How does a storyteller create fantasy? What cues does the audience listen to? How does B. B. King's Memphis sound with horns help him to create meaning? Explore these questions in "Beautician Blues."

How do we think about youth once its over? How do certain events become turning points? How is the self defined in relation to certain events? Memphis Minnie's "In My Girlish Days" presents a tale of female of self-affirmation in adulthood.

What happens to time when you realize something? How does a realization change your view of the past? What does "fattening frogs for snakes" mean? Explore these questions in Bumble Bee Slim's (Amos Easton) "Fattening Frogs for Snakes."

How does addiction affect our experience of time? A discussion of "Canned Heat Blues" explores the kind of dwelling in the present characteristic of addiction. Discover how the interplay between vocal delivery and guitar work can push listeners to dwell in the present.

How do the women's "classic" blues represent time? What might waiting mean for a woman during the Great Depression? Discussion and analysis of Bessie Smith's "In the House Blues."

What does waiting do to our experience of time? How can a blues song make us feel time slowing down? What does waiting mean? Using Muddy Waters' "Long Distance Call," I discuss the musical and lyrical representations of waiting and what they mean.