Blues Progressions

The hinge of the series — the blues comes home to America, to Texas. The Lone Star blues bloodline (T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday," Lightnin' Hopkins, Freddie King); ZZ Top as a ferocious blues-rock power trio hiding inside MTV fame ("La Grange" off John Lee Hooker); the Austin scene at Antone's where young players learned from the masters in person. Then the centerpiece: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble — Number One, the heavy strings, Montreux and Bowie's "Let's Dance," "Texas Flood," his Albert King and Hendrix worship, his hard-won sobriety and "In Step," and the 1990 helicopter crash. Plus the host's own life-changing SRV epiphany — the note that sent him digging backward and, in more ways than one, the reason this show exists  

Episode 4 is the legacy episode — the beautiful parts and the complicated parts both. How "classic rock" radio (AOR → tested song libraries c.1980) froze a handful of songs and shrank the genre to a postcard. The "Free Bird" meme and "Sweet Home Alabama" as shorthand. Then the hard center: the Confederate-flag controversy, handled through the host's honest first-person reckoning — wearing one at 12 as "rebel"/love-of-the-music, learning what it carries (the battle flag vs. the CSA flag, the civil-rights-era revival, the 1861 cornerstone statement), and landing on the music, not the symbols. The "long-haired country boy" myth vs. the genre's real diversity (Jaimoe, the Black blues roots). And the bridge forward: Petty, Seger, Americana, modern country — plus Drive-By Truckers' Southern Rock Opera and "the duality of the Southern thing" as the master class.  

The fuse from Episode 1 catches. How a generation of British kids fell for American blues records and handed the music back louder: Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated as the hub; the underground club scene (the Marquee, Eel Pie Island); the race-and-radio reason it took outsiders; the Rolling Stones as a Chess cover band; the Animals and Them; John Mayall's Bluesbreakers as the guitar-hero factory (Clapton, Green, Mick Taylor); the 1966 "Beano" album and the Les-Paul-into-cranked-Marshall tone that defined rock guitar; the Yardbirds pipeline (Clapton → Beck → Page); Cream and the power trio; Peter Green's blues-band Fleetwood Mac; Led Zeppelin's blues bones — and the honest reckoning about credit and payment owed to the Black originators. Ends with the round-trip: the Stones putting Howlin' Wolf on American TV, and Hendrix flown to London.  

The opener of a brand-new six-part series — with a warm welcome back to the Southern Rock (Southbound) crowd and an open door for newcomers. We define blues rock (the blues plus rock volume, drums, and attitude), then lay the foundation: the 12-bar form and the bent blue note; the Great Migration that carried the Delta to Chicago; Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Chess Records; Little Walter electrifying the harmonica; T-Bone Walker making the guitar a lead voice in Texas; and the three Kings — B.B., Albert, and Freddie — who wrote the complete guitar vocabulary every rock hero would go on to steal. Ends by setting up the great irony: America's overlooked blues, loved and handed back by British kids — and the full six-episode map.

Fresh on the heels of my series on Southern Rock, I am launching the next series on Blues Rock starting July 17!

A band like Blackberry Smoke or the Marcus King Band walks out to a sold-out room tonight — and you can’t quite name what it is. Southern Rock? Blues-rock? Country? Americana? All of it? The finale brings the whole story home: who carries it now, how it evolved, and how a porch sound went global. 

1980: Capricorn Records goes bankrupt and the press writes the obituary — Southern Rock is dead. They got it completely wrong. It didn’t die; it went underground, and the faithful kept the fire lit in the small rooms. The host was one of them — behind the board for a Jersey cover band. 

The same five Southern Rock songs play on every classic rock station, forever — but somebody chose them, and somebody froze this music in place. What got frozen along with it — the flags, the myths, the arguments — is the hardest, most honest episode in the series. And the host doesn’t dodge any of it, including his own history with the flag. 

Everybody knows “Free Bird” — it’s a punchline now, the thing people yell as a joke. But that song, and a dozen like it, came out of one white-hot five-year explosion of Southern music. This is the peak: Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels — and the fire that took some of the best of them. 

A grieving manager who’d just buried Otis Redding bets a whole record label on a band with two lead guitarists and two drummers. The town is Macon. The label is Capricorn. This is the room where Southern Rock got its name. 

Welcome back! After a long absence, I would like to welcome you back to Blues Progressions. With the help of AI, I am now able to keep up with work and my side projects. This is the first of a six parts series of the Sub-Genre: Southern Rock. As a long time fan I am thrilled to have it's histroy presented to you. Look for a weekly episode throughout this series!

The Blues are the roots of a tall musical tree. One of those branches is Jazz. In this episode we take a short journey through the influence of the Blues on the creation and evolution of Jazz.

Another quick update prior to relaunch

Quick note on the delay of new episodes

In this episode, we again explore the Great Migration as we look at how the Blues traveled from the Deep South to the West Coast. We also look at how the genre changed and took on a region flavor along the way.

An exploration of the youth movement of the Blues. We will discuss the number of Blues artists that were discovered as kids and often mentored by the previous generation(s). Lookin forward we see the Circle has been unbroken as the next generation gets a boost as well

Welcome to Season 2! In this episode we talk about Blues Societies and thier role in keeping the Blues relevent 

Season 2 is coming soon! We will be concentrating on the Blues Community.  We're are looking for artists, blues societies, broadcasters, venues, historians, fans, retailers, educators and anyone wishing to promote nor share a story related to the Blues. If you have a suggestion/connection or would liket to appear yourself, please reach out to us via email at [email protected]

In this Episode we will highlight the late Hubert Sumlin. We will also recap Season 1 and Preview Season 2. This is the Season finale of Season 1. Please visit our website for playlists and other information  How to listen to / Add the accompanying music playlists on your Phone Apple Music Open Music App Tap search in the lower right corner Type Blues Progressions in search box (make sure Apple Music is selected under search bar  - not Library) Hit Search lower right Select playlists in options under search box Select the playlist you would like to listen to If you want to add to your library, select the three dots on upper right and in menu select add to library Spotify Open Spotify App Tap search in the lower center left Type Blues Progressions in search box In the results look foe Blues Progressions - There will be 2 one is the podcast (subtitle will say podcast and author name) The music playlist will have a rubber duck profile picture and have the subtitle of profile - select this one You will be given a list of playlists (you can hit “see all playlists” to see all of them Select the one you like to listen (if you have a premium account yo can download as well)   Use the following link to join our mailing list:  mailing list

In Episode 9, we explore the Electronification Blues Music and how it changed and grew the genre.   How to listen to / Add the accompanying music playlists on your Phone   Apple Music Open Music App Tap search in the lower right corner Type Blues Progressions in search box (make sure Apple Music is selected under search bar  - not Library) Hit Search lower right Select playlists in options under search box Select the playlist you would like to listen to If you want to add to your library, select the three dots on upper right and in menu select add to library   Spotify Open Spotify App Tap search in the lower center left Type Blues Progressions in search box In the results look foe Blues Progressions - There will be 2 one is the podcast (subtitle will say podcast and author name) The music playlist will have a rubber duck profile picture and have the subtitle of profile - select this one You will be given a list of playlists (you can hit “see all playlists” to see all of them Select the one you like to listen (if you have a premium account yo can download as well)   Use the following link to join our mailing list:  mailing list      

In Episode 8 we explore the Blues Brothers (Band and Movies). We will discuss who they were and why they are so important to the genre

With the recent release of the Slash (and friends) album 'Orgy of the Damned', it brought forward some fantastic Blues covers. Along this vein we will explore great and most common covers of Blues songs.    How to listen to / Add Playlists on Phone   Apple Music   Open Music App Tap search in the lower right corner Type Blues Progressions in search box (make sure Apple Music is selected under search bar  - not Library) Hit Search lower right Select playlists in options under search box Select the playlist you would like to listen to If you want to add to your library, select the three dots on upper right and in menu select add to library     Spotify   Open Spotify App Tap search in the lower center left Type Blues Progressions in search box In the results look foe Blues Progressions - There will be 2 one is the podcast (subtitle will say podcast and author name) The music playlist will have a rubber duck profile picture and have the subtitle of profile - select this one You will be given a list of playlists (you can hit “see all playlists” to see all of them Select the one you like to listen (if you have a premium account yo can download as well)

This is not a traditional episode but is a tribute to the late John Mayall whom we lost this week. We will cover his amazing impact on the Blues (specifically the British Blues). 

This episode will cover the historical record of the Blues through a review of the visionaries that saw the importance of this part of American History

The very long part 2 of our exploration into Women of Blues Music

Episode 4 covers the early women of the blues and the incredible impact they had on the genre

This episode explores the Great Migration of both the population and thier music from the deep South to Chicago - This episode has been remastered. Due to some mic issues it is a bit rough. 

The 12-bar blues is the canvas for so many music genres, shaping their harmonic structures, rhythms, and emotional expression. Updated again as the music sample was missing  

Robert Johnson is the obvious starting point for any discussion of the blues. From the crossroads, his true story and the his legend are embedded in so much of the blues and other forms of entertainment. This is being released on the his birthday - May 8th and is the start of our journey   Further information and links on Robert Johnson Life and Career: Robert Leroy Johnson was born on May 8, 1911, in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, USA. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as perhaps “the first ever rock star” 1. Learn more: Robert Johnson - Wikipedia   Songs and Legacy: Johnson wrote and recorded 29 songs in Dallas and San Antonio from 1936 to 1937. These include classics like “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” and “Sweet Home Chicago,” which have become blues standards. His songs have been covered by artists such as Muddy Waters, Elmore James, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton 2. Explore: Biography - Robert Johnson   Legends and Mysterious Details: Johnson’s poorly documented life and death have given rise to intriguing legends. One of the most famous is that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads in return for musical success. His music had a small but influential following during his lifetime and in the decades after his death. Musicologist Alan Lomax played a crucial role in bringing Johnson’s work to a wider audience through the album “King of the Delta Blues Singers” 1. Discover more: Britannica - Robert Johnson   Listen to His Music: Apple Music Playlist Spotify Playlist

Introducing Blues Progressions the podcast examining the history, legends and impact of the Blues. Bi-weekly we will share our insights and opinions on how the American musical form has impacted the world. Blues Progressions - Where Every Note Tells a Story