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Is blues a dying art?

Do blues "societies" get together for tea and crumpets and muse over mic placement on harmonica amps on the weekends? I've always wondered, because my local chapter is full of some of the most arrogant, high minded phonies this side of the Hudson River. Their "Blues Society" is to blues what Fall Out Boy is to punk rock, but nobody told them yet apparently.
 
doesnt matter if its blues or classical or whatever, musicians grab a little of this and a little of that and make it into something of there own that reflects their style and /or personality, its the way its been done for centuries. Music, no matter what the genre keeps evolving, and so will the blues
 
Do blues "societies" get together for tea and crumpets and muse over mic placement on harmonica amps on the weekends? I've always wondered, because my local chapter is full of some of the most arrogant, high minded phonies this side of the Hudson River. Their "Blues Society" is to blues what Fall Out Boy is to punk rock, but nobody told them yet apparently.

Someone ought to tell you that you come off quite high minded and arrogant yourself...with all this talk of pork pie hats and the self-important comments about your definition of the blues as if you are the worlds foremost authority.
 
Well in the traditional kind of sense, I do not know that many real blues bands. Most of them are either really old guys or tribute/cover bands.

That said there is a ton of blues-rock bands that are all pretty great and seriously drop it with the Black Keys being Blues. That is a bad joke to me.

So some bands from the top of my head:

North Mississippi Allstars (Big love for Big Chew)
Gov't Mule
Trucks and Tedeschi band
Doyle Bramhall II
Blues Wire (The best blues band in Europe and fellow Greeks)

Seriously check the Crossroads festival roster and you will find enough. Blues music is becoming a very strong niche that has a very specific following.

For me there are two reasons why we won't be seeing a comeback anytime soon. Blues is not poppy enough, as it does not follow the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format and pop music is currently heavily electronic influenced.
 
Never been to our local chapter ATLANTA BLUES SOCIETY.

Excellent website, however a friend of mine, D .T. Chastain..probably one of the best guitarists..and nice guy.. in the U.S.A. went to a few meetings.

As he isn't a blues purist..he has put out a few 'blues' releases as side project to his usual 'shreding', he said the pervasive attitude was if it wasn't trad blues, it wasn't appreciated by A B S .

I have been to some local blues benefit concerts, where Liz Melendez outshined them all..yet wasn't the most apreciated band..gave me pause..

I have met some of the 'senior' and influential members of A B S .. and let feeling that the attitude was if it ain't played on a dobro or flat top..it ain't blues. I just turned 60..hope I NEVER BECOME SO CLOSED MINDED.

I believe my wife's perspective is correct in that as it is called Blues SOCIETY, it does lend itself more to tea & crumpets..dobros and flat tops....

Stayed up late last night..LENO show had Paul Butterfield on harp..forget the awesome steel players name.. staying up past midnight and working next day will kick me until noon..which is why I don't attend local jams.. late hours and high gas prices...plus age 60 equa there ain't enough coffee to prime my pumps..LOL..
 
Locally here it is.

It's just the same older dudes playing the same things over and over and over. They never want to try anything new, same songs every time.

There used to be a few "gems" in the otherwise mediocre mass of blues groups here, but, they either broke up or moved on.
 
There will always be niche for music that has already peaked. There are people that will like classicial, big band, ragtime, swing, blues, Motown, and jazz even though they aren't at the forefront of musical trends. The Blues have had a serious influence on modern music, but as a style by it's self, its what we in the computer world would call a legacy application that is no longer in development or being supported.