When we began the American Blues Scene in late 2010, we did so because we believed that there was a deep well of amazing, interesting, inspiring stories in blues music and the decades of culture that it became a soundtrack to. We believed that the stories, often largely untold or overlooked, sometimes melancholy, other times uplifting, but always with an amazing soundtrack, deserved a professional journalistic discourse that would give the blues the respectability they deserved.
This is the one thousandth published blues music article on the digital side of American Blues Scene Magazine, and today we believe in the philosophy that launched ABS more firmly than ever. Even as we continue to work on compelling, exciting blues articles, features, stories, and reviews from the days before blues was born through to breaking news today, and from it’s unassuming birth in the Mississippi Delta to becoming an international language, it continues to be clear that we have barely scratched the surface of the amazing stories that the blues still hides.
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to witness, thanks entirely to the loyal, amazingly passionate fans of the best music on the planet, the American Blues Scene grow in ways we never imagined, including becoming one of the 100,000 most popular websites in the United States. One thousand articles on blues music is just a start. Even ten thousand, which we fondly look forward to, would hardly make a dent in the powerful culture of the blues — the secret handshake between musicians and fans who’ve been swept up in all of the nuances and blue notes of the soundtrack to our lives.
There will never stop being compelling articles to write in the blues, thanks to the genius of past musical pioneers like Muddy Waters, Son House, Bo Diddley and hundreds of others, and to those torch-bearers like Bob Margolin, Elvin Bishop, Bob Corritore, Shawn Holt and so many more that pioneer while carrying traditions… From those that took the blues & continue to craft something in new directions, The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, Jack White to The Black Keys, Black Sabbath, The Allman Brothers, and dozens-to-hundreds more world-changing bands, to the blues bands and artists like Ruthie Foster, Nick Moss Band, Little Ed, and literally thousands more that tirelessly work in contemporary blues, playing in music rooms and street corners, road-warrioring from club to club, festival to festival, innovating, creating and paying homage to the temple of tradition… It’s thanks to the colorful blues clubs that dot the country, the instrument crafters, the hundreds of annual blues festivals, from Chicago to Portland to Hell, Norway and far beyond that show off the best in blues to crowds from the hundreds to the hundreds of thousands that the American Blues Scene has been able to successfully continue it’s mission.
Thanks to the great work from our prolific writers such as Debra Devi, Don Wilcock, Barry Kerzner, Stacy Jeffress, Hubert O’Hearn, R Lecky Harrison, Michael Brasier, and a number of past & current contributors, American Blues Scene has been fortunate to present compelling features and pieces, including Debra Devi’s fascinating weekly segment on what words and phrases in the blues really mean, the popular Blues Law series by lawyer, author, and radio personality Brian Lukasavitz that explores interesting and landmark law cases related to the blues genre, the powerful journalism in pieces from celebrated decades-long music writer Don Wilcock on Derek Trucks or the first interview with Bill Wax after his departure from Sirius XM, the staple reviews and in-depth features from Barry Kerzner, our entertaining Brief History of a Song series, and much more.
It takes a number of people behind the scenes to help American Blues Scene continue to be the leader in blues music news, and it is only from incredible work by JD Nash on Social Media, Account Executive Patricia Main’s help bringing compelling blues messages to our fantastic fans, the thousands of orders handled by merchandise foreman Claye Bigger, and the work of Barry Kerzner that goes far above-and-beyond writing, that we’re able to continue to innovate and give a strong voice to the blues. The founders, Glen Casebeer and myself, are eternally grateful for the artists, fans, contributors, labels, promoters, venues, music companies, The Blues Foundation, and the many, many people that allow us to be the conduit for bringing the stories of the blues to the people.
We look forward to enjoying ten thousand articles with you! Thank you.
Matt Marshall, Editor-In-Chief
