The Blues

Spiritual music originated from enslaved Africans in the United States beginning in the early 17th century. This music primarily stood for an expression of religious faith, during an experience these slaves all shared together. An experience like this causes those to come together, and this music was their sense of togetherness. Christian hymns were the base of their spiritual songs, and with slavery occurring in the southern states strictly, it would eventually evolve to another form of music.

Blues music evolved directly from spiritual music, and the artifact I chose is from the popular artist B.B. King. Blues eventually came popular everywhere, but was definitely a representation of the south. When I hear B.B. King perform, I see the correlation from the spiritual music which came from slavery. His performance brings a sort of comfort, possibly the same comfort slaves felt when they sang their spiritual songs. Blues music has this specific feel to it. Watching him throughout the performance, you see his passion for his music, and expresses his christian faith.

Slavery was an awful thing, and the South is known for it, but it brought forth this passionate form of music. In H.L. Mencken's "The Sahara of the Bozart", he says specifically that the no white southern composer created a good piece of music during this time period, and that it came specifically from the African Americans. This shows that the South is known for this music, and is why I chose this as a representation of the Deep South. Blues music has now had an impact on the world, and is a perfect representation of that "awful" South.