The history of blues music is drenched in melancholy. So it’s no surprise when some of the most gut-wrenching blues tunes ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s something about Buddy Guy that hits you right in the gut—the way he bends a string, the way his voice trembles with heartbreak, the way he pours a lifetime of joy and sorrow ...

As the flood waters rose, many blues artists were inspired to write songs about the disaster and describe the experience of being in a flood. The Mississippi Delta is famous for more than floods; it's ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) When I think about the roots of blues music—the raw honesty, the pain wrapped in poetry, the joy carved out of hardship—I think of Ma Rainey. Her voice was more than a sound; it was ...

As the National Museum of African American Music opens its doors, journalists from the USA TODAY Network explore the stories, places and people who helped make music what it is today in our expansive ...