A heated discussion on 'Race, Gender & the Blues'

[Jimmy Jacobs]

I spend my days litigating civil rights issues, and I have to say that I
just don't see a systemic racial bias in the blues music world.  That's not
to say that there aren't individuals -promoters, buyers, artists- that are
motivated (even subconsciously) by race and/or gender, but it seems to me
that the most highly regarded blues artists around are black.  I'm thinking
of folks like BB, Buddy, Taj Mahal,, Robert Cray, who command high fees and
are in high demand. Maybe when you get below that tier, whites are more
predominant.   I just surfed over to the websites for Blue Mountain and
Piedmont and it appears that the artists under management are about evenly
divided.  Of the festivals that I plan to attend this summer, the headliners
appear to be evenly represented by race.

-----Original Message-----
From: Blues Music List [mailto:BLUES-L@LISTSERV.NETHELPS.COM] On Behalf Of
jinxblues@AOL.COM
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:00 AM
To: BLUES-L@LISTSERV.NETHELPS.COM
Subject: Re: A heated discussion on 'Race, Gender & the Blues'




At one time is was white America's country (after they stole it from the
Indians that is). That paradigm has changed. We are, as a nation, stronger
and better for it. The same reasoning, to be fair, has to be employed when
it comes to the Blues....and the argument that someone needs to "give their
music back." Hopefully it (the blues genre) too will be better and stronger
for it.


 -------------

True words from Texas . . .



Dick Waterman
1601 Buchanan Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655






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