Blues Progressions

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 host@bluesprogressions.com

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 Mu...

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 s...

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 sear...

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...