(ThyBlackMan.com) When discussing the most influential blues musicians of all time, Howlin’ Wolf stands in a league of his ...

One of the biggest misconceptions about blues music is that the genre is all about doom and gloom. Naturally, many blues songs feature lyrics about being down in the dumps, love lost, and heartbreak.

Blues music is a soulful genre. It has roots deeply embedded in the Black experience. Blues has long been a powerful expression of the struggles, joys and resilience of Black life in America.

NPR's Scott Detrow talks to Smithsonian curator John Troutman and blues musician Dom Flemons about a new folk album, Playing for the Man at the Door, from late chronicler Mack McCormick's collection.

Because blues music is so old and dates back even before vinyl records and other recording means, there remains a significant amount of mystery regarding its early years. Born in the American South ...

The story of how Muireann Bradley got signed to a record label at the tender age of 13 reads like the opening act of a biopic about a future pop superstar. As a young lass growing up in Ballybofey, a ...

Young Mississippi blues stars Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Mr. Sipp and veteran artist Bobby Rush are among the top acts nominated for the 2024 Blues Music Awards. This week, the Memphis-based ...

Ryan Coogler's latest film, "Sinners," a spicy cinematic gumbo of African American folk tale, painful racial history and vampire horror starring Michael B. Jordan, has bolted out of the box-office ...

Rosemary Westwood from member station WWNO asked a few of New Orlean's favorite musicians about the songs they like to listen to around Christmas.

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 ...

The blues is ripe with legends and myths, not least the oft-touted claim that W.C. Handy was the father of the blues. But as Darryl. W. Bullock tells it, there is an important tract of blues history ...

Most people have never heard of Gnawa. Originally you weren't supposed to. For centuries, the music was only played in secret ceremonies by enslaved Black Africans brought to Morocco. Gnawa—an ...