Blacks and the Blues

You are right on the money. I have an African-American friend that sometimes
hooks up with me at blues or jazz shows and we have joked for years about how his
face is the only black one in the joint. Besides the musicians that is , and that
is only sometimes.

I was at the Otis Taylor show in Sunrise the night before he played in Lake Worth and there really were a few black folks there.

The good news is that I went to the Chicago Blues Festival last month and there was
a pretty mixed crowd.

It is ironic that its the pale faces that are keeping the blues alive at this point.

In 1986 I put together a Blues Band in Pittsburgh Pa. We played in Pa. Wv. and Maryland to mostly white audiences. If Blacks were in attendance it would be me,my wife and the Black guy that was dating the White woman. After about a ten year struggle I joined an oldies group to survive. I opened a show for James Cotton at the Graffiti Lounge in Pittsburgh. It was great to meet him. By the way my band consisted of three Jews, One German and me the lone Black. Reno formerly of Reno and the Gamblers Pgh. Pa.