paul.gray | All About Blues Music

Julian Sas

In one sense, it could be said that Dutch-born guitarist Julian Sas represents a bold new breed of blues performers. The fact that he hails from the Netherlands makes him very much a part of the international expansion of the blues. Home But for all his uniqueness, Sas is, in some ways, as deeply smothered…

Matty T Wall

When legendary blues pioneer Robert Johnson took his infamous (and probably apocryphal) trip to the crossroads, he no idea that he was birthing an entirely new genre in music. And he certainly had no clue how far his influence would travel. Getting raw Down Under Australian blues guitarist Matty T Wall is proof of how…

Blues In London

Events – Buy Tickets The BB King Blues Band Under The Bridge, London SW6 New Date – Friday 4th December 2020, 7.30pm Click Here Coming To Under The Bridge is a band that for over 35 years has performed in 90 countries playing behind the Blues legend King of the Blues Mr B B King.…

Phil and Dave Alvin

Those with at least a casual familiarity with bluesy rock and rock will very likely recognize the Alvin Brothers’ names as the co-leaders of the Blasters. But there’s more to their tale than the music they collaborated to create. Blues Brothers Their shared story has all the elements of a Hollywood epic: drama, conflict and…

Katie Bradley

There’s a lot of history in the blues harp. From the late nineteenth century when the instrument first became widely available and through the southern jug bands and honky-tonk howlers that gave sharp and vivid voice to every syllable just beyond the human voice’s reach. It’s not clear how much of the instrument’s history Katie…

Jimmy Adler

The Devil’s Music Everything you need to know about blues guitar master Jimmy Adler and his style as a performer can be understood with a single quote from the Pittsburgh native. “Listening to blues is a spiritual experience. Blues music expresses the emotions of the human condition and makes one feel good. When I play…

Layla Zoe

Layla Zoe’s years on the blues scene have been insanely successful and are loaded with the promise of even greater success. Comparisons to legendary voices (Janis Joplin is the most often cited name) are not uncommon as she builds the kind of reputation that strong careers are made of. And hers only promises to get…

Johnny Rawls

Those who bemoan the modernization of the blues will find plenty to love in Johnny Rawls. He’s an old-school bluesman, born and bred in Mississippi. Old School in New Clothes Handsome in a rough-hewn way, it’s not hard to imagine Rawls spending his early life toiling in the fields and making spare change playing after…

Techniques

Bending – stretching a string vertically downwards or upwards to raise the pitch. An effective way to create blue notes. Half bend: bending so that the pitch is raised by a 1/2 tone (sounding like the next fret). If you do a half bend on the 5. fret, the pitch will be like a normal…

The blues scale

The blues scale is a pentatonic scale, with an added note (b5) marked blue. Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Position 5 This is a minor blues scale in position 1. From E, 12. Fret. Blue notes These notes adds tension and dissonance to the scale, which is an important element in the sound of…