When the Blues migrated north, it found adoptive homes that were supportive and nurturing, but few embraced the form and its purveyors with the passionate conviction of Chicago. Maybe the city’s response was simply mirroring the talent it attracted, but whatever the reason, the Blues loved Chicago and Chicago loved the Blues — an affair that has continued unabated for nearly a century.
After Chicago sheltered Delta Blues refugees during the Depression, it served as a Petri dish for subsequent genre experiments, fostering a profound musical evolution that ripples through the Blues to this day. Chicago’s Blues genealogy is rich with the biggest names to ever take a stage, and the literal and figurative children of Chess Records number in the tens of thousands. Read more in this week's Sound Advice.
See Cash Box Kings at Cincy Blues Fest with Samantha Fish and more Friday at Sawyer Point. More info/tickets: cincybluesfest.org .
