At last! Long-awaited first history of South Carolina Blues is published!

Announcing the release of "South Carolina Blues," by Clair DeLune from Arcadia Publishing.

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467114721/South-Carolina-Blues

The history of South Carolina blues is a long, deep—and sometimes painful—story. However, it is a narrative with aspects as compelling as the music itself. Geographical differences in America led to variations in the styles of music that developed from African rhythms. The wet, marshy landscape and hot, muggy weather of the Carolina Lowcountry combined to cultivate not only rice, but a Gullah-based style of South Carolina blues. In drier climates, toward the Midlands and the Upstate, the combination of European influences led to the emergence of Piedmont blues, which in turn spawned country music as well as bluegrass. Those same Gullah roots resulted in four major dance crazes, starting with the Charleston.

In this book, music history professor and blues radio host Clair DeLune dusts off neglected nuggets of history, drawing on archival photographs and rarely seen memorabilia from a generation of musicians’ personal collections. Readers will learn not only new information about some famous players who left their musical mark on history, but even more about the not-so-famous ones, as well as modern masters who carry on the rhythms of their predecessors and are truly keeping South Carolina blues alive.

Blues Moon Radio Interview with Roy Rogers Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I'm excited about tonight's show... we were honored to be asked to interview Roy Rogers by the fine folks at Blind Pig Records, who bring us so many great artists. Roy collaborated with The Doors' keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, for Translucent Blues, which is decidedly a departure from straight Blues, but one I think Blues and Rock fans alike will enjoy.

Roy and I chatted about his roots and early beginnings, and started our interview - off the record - talking about his name and the inevitable associations with Roy Rogers, the singing cowboy. Interestingly, my show co-host, RockyDawg-BluesDefender, who is usually silent in the recording studio, barked up a storm during our interview - in such a way that I had to decide between his "voice-over" staying on or losing some great content by Roy. The singing cowboy Roy had a German Shepherd named Bullet, and I cannot help but find the humor in the fact that the only time my German Shepherd interrupted a recording was for Roy Rogers, the Blues slide guitar legend. I probably should have distinguished the two for RockStar... :) I expect he thought he was just sayin' "howdy" to Bullet's Dad! I'll do better with my prep in the future, but enjoy the barking... and Roy's response.

The show will kick off with some music with a theme of leaving; we'll try to fit in some birthday tributes and we'll hear from Roy and from the new CD, as well as from some of his biggest influences - Bo Diddley, Robert Johnson and  John Lee Hooker (he produced four of The Hook's albums, btw, and knew him well - perhaps we can chat with him more about those experiences another time).

The show starts at 6, and the interview will air around 7 p.m. EDT/USA - in most countries that is -5 GMT.

You can tune in at http://wusc.sc.edu - then follow the link in the top left quadrant of your screen - tune in early to get a slot - sometimes we hit our streaming limit pretty early. It's an alternative station, and the show before mine has some interesting music; the show after mine features covers of famous songs done in interesting new ways so stay tuned after I sign off and make a night of it!

Blues History for Feb. 1

Blues History for Feb. 1:
Birth anniversaries for Baby Face Leroy (Foster), James P. Johnson (played piano for Bessie Smith) and Joe Sample.

Contemporary Bluesmen, Fran Cristina and Jeffrey Lee McAlister (Roomful of Blues and Duke Robillard Band) are having birthdays as well.

Lost to the world of Blues on this date was Johnny Littlejohn.

Not Blues Music related, but an important date in Black History: today is also the anniversary of the Greensboro, N.C. sit-in at the Woolworth's counter, where four black students at NC A&T University were refused service but sat, undeterred, at the counter. The protestors were peaceful; however they were not treated peacefully, then were forcefully removed. Today marks the 50th year since that sit-in moved equality forward in our country.