A Rich History of Blues Music inthe Mississippi Delta

E l i z a b e t h C r e e k m o r e

Melancholy, soulful blues music and thegenres it has inspired were shaped by the

early African American voices ofMississippi, a state rich with musical history

and sites that honor it.

Today, most of the original DeltaMississippi bluesmen have passed on.

DELTA BLUES: A BRIEF HISTORY

The blues as we know them are widelythought to have been born in the Mississippi

Delta, a section in the state’s northwestbetween the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers.

But the blues’ story extends back muchfurther: notably, as far as the coasts of Africa,when men, women and children were taken as

slaves to American plantations.

Post-slavery, African Americans developed thismusic further, incorporating influence from

Christian hymnals and American instruments,all the while enduring hardships under Jim Crow

laws and Klu Klux Klan oppression.

Music was an escape, and during the Civil War itemerged as part work-chant, part sorrow song.

Music was an escape, and during the Civil War itemerged as part work-chant, part sorrow song.

At the turn of the 20th century, the blues were adistinct and recognizable style performed by bluesmen

at venues around the Mississippi Delta region.

Record companies first realized thepotential market and began to record and

produce blues musicians in the 1920s.

Record companies first realized thepotential market and began to record and

produce blues musicians in the 1920s.

Artists spread the style throughout the country, whereit influenced almost every later genre including jazz,

hip-hop, country, and rock ‘n’ roll.

MISSISSIPPI BLUES TRAIL

For blues enthusiasts, tourists, or general musiclovers, the Mississippi Blues Trail marks historicalsites related to the birth, growth and influence of

blues music throughout Mississippi, with thelargest concentration in the Delta region.

What exactly can one hope to findalong the trail?

What exactly can one hope to findalong the trail?

Roadtrippers eager to follow the history of blues musiccan travel between over 170 markers, which honor

individuals, venue, recording companies, historicalevents, radio stations and other hubs of blues activity.

First implemented in 2006, the Mississippi BluesTrail tells the stories of the talent behind one ofthe most important genres of music in America,

perhaps of all time.

From B.B. King to Charley Patton, individual pioneersand the places they created and performed at live on

through these markers.

The blues have been immortalized as much inMississippi Blues Trail, but more importantly, they

persist continuously in their influence of over acentury of musical evolution.

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