Chicago Country Blues is a style of music that combines the spirit of several musical styles. In borrowing from these styles, it creates original music that is familiar in some ways, and yet at the same time, it creates original music that is new and different. The name, Chicago Country Blues, comes partly from the terms traditional country music and country blues. The following sections tell how these styles relate to Chicago Country Blues. Then a section talks about recordings of Chicago Country Blues, and lastly there are some closing remarks.
Chicago Country Blues has elements of traditional country music, yet the term traditional country music can mean different things to different people. Some will think of 1950's country music and honky-tonk, and some will think of the traditional elements within the 1960's and 1970's sounds. Closer to the roots of traditional country music, some may think of Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter family, and further back to Old-Time music, Appalachian folk music, and to their roots in Celtic music. Although these different interpretations of traditional country music represent a wide array of styles, they have a single unifying thread -- each style can be characterized by its sincere expression of everyday life.
Chicago Country Blues seeks to incorporate that unifying thread more so than any specific stylistic interpretation. That is, the sincere expression of everyday hopes and troubles is a folk element that Chicago Country Blues strives for. While many of us admire the old folk songs -- those songs that were written and circulated before the invasiveness of modern mass media -- we may presuppose that we could not have new folk songs today. Yet, Chicago Country Blues recognizes that we can continue to create music in the spirit of the folk songs, especially since today's mass media just serves to make us appreciate folk music all the more.
Country Blues
So far, Chicago Country Blues has extrapolated upon the style of country blues that is largely within traditional country music. That is, a blues fan will usually associate the term country blues with the classic recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, while a country music fan may have a little different perspective. In country music, the term country blues is often associated with the blue yodels of Jimmie Rodgers. Indeed, Jimmie borrowed from the blues, introduced it to country music, and in country music the blues has acquired some beautiful stylings -- sometimes parallel to the blues, and sometimes divergent from the blues.
Chicago Country Blues draws upon country blues within country music as a lyric, melodic, and instrumental style that continues to have creative potential. While at times the country blues seem to be enjoyed more as novelty songs, in Chicago Country Blues they have a larger role. This is because there are so many possibilities for vocal songs with unique instrumentals and arrangements, and for complete instrumentals. The album Sound of the Blues presented the opportunity for several such interpretations -- there are extended instrumentals within the country blues songs, and there is one fully instrumental song that showcases several styles of country blues playing. Notably, the country blues within the blues tradition of Blind Lemon also seems to offer many future possibilities for Chicago Country Blues.
Chicago Country Blues
Chicago musician Steve Perry is the originator of Chicago Country Blues, and he is the one proponent of Chicago Country Blues at this time. He is making music that borrows elements of traditional country music and country blues, and yet it is music that is original in vocal style, instrumental approach, and in presenting new songs that have a classic sound. Steve has a warm, clear Midwestern voice which is at once familiar and unique -- his country music is performed without a rural sound, and likewise, his blues are performed without an urban sound. His first album, Rosin Up Your Bow, was oriented toward traditional country music and country blues. His second album, Sound of the Blues, has added an approach that expands upon country blues.
Instrumentally, Chicago Country Blues was recorded on Rosin Up Your Bow with a rhythm section consisting of an acoustic upright bass and an acoustic guitar. On Sound of the Blues, this ensemble sound was expanded to include the drums -- but this did not overshadow the acoustic bass either -- both were accentuated by the contrast. On Rosin Up Your Bow, the fiddle, mandolin, lap steel guitar, electric guitar, and piano were all showcased well. A big change on Sound of the Blues is that it features Steve's electric guitar playing, and he captures several different moods of Chicago Country Blues. At times, the leads are reminiscent of flat-picking acoustic guitar blues and lap steel guitar blues, as well as being just sheer melodic electric guitar playing.
In Closing
Chicago Country Blues is an evolving musical style that has dynamic and changing boundaries -- it does not consist of any specific preferred instruments, or of any specific song formats. While the skill of the musicians in Chicago Country Blues has been exceptional -- on both Rosin Up Your Bow and Sound of the Blues -- the skill level is not of paramount importance. Chicago Country Blues is conceived of as a style of music that emphasizes the performance-quality of music -- the heart-felt expression of music. It follows that Chicago Country Blues also emphasizes originality.
The thought in Chicago Country Blues is to continue to make new music in the styles of traditional country music and country blues, and especially to do so in ways that may at times extend those styles. It is the idea of capturing their sounds and sensibilities -- but not in a 'note-by-note' fashion -- rather, it is to strive to reach out and 'catch the spirit' of those styles. Chicago Country Blues can thus create new music with both an enduring appeal and fresh new sounds. It can create music that lends itself not only to a country music audience, and not only to a blues audience, but to the great many people who are music fans in general, more so than they are music fans of any one style.
