Blues is the lifeblood of American music. Originating in the deep South, blues was born out of the woeful ballads of slaves working plantation fields. Its sorrowful sound and low-noted patterns paint listeners’ minds with pictures of toil and worry. Since its inception, blues has seeped into every nook and cranny of today’s popular music.
In the last century, blues music’s influence has crawled up and out around the U.S. This is true for every corner of the country, including the very unlikely region of Michigan, from which New Orleans guitarist Luke Winslow King originally hails. King has lived in New Orleans since 2002, releasing three albums and making a name for himself as a blues and slide guitar ace.
The Daily Reveille sat down with King to discuss his perception of blues in different parts of the U.S. as well how his life in both the Midwest and South has shaped his personal style.
The Daily Reveille: Are there any major differences in the blues you hear in Michigan than in New Orleans?
Luke Winslow King: For sure. I moved to Louisiana in 2002 to go the University of New Orleans, so I’ve kind of spent my whole adult life here. I grew up hearing a lot of the Chicago blues. It was what you think of as blues growing up in northern Michigan. Also the classic rock blues, like [Jimi] Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan. I heard a lot of that stuff growing up. The Chess Records: Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon. There’s definitely a different sound in Louisiana. When I came here to study classical music, I was learning a lot hanging out on Frenchmen Street and from a lot of blues players down here. There’s definitely a difference in the sound. It’s not only geographical, but it’s also chronological.
TDR: Blues permeates all forms of music today, whether people admit it or not. Your blues is more traditional. It’s more from the wartime era. Do you think it’s more intrinsic and niche-like?
LWK: We don’t think of it as a niche thing. I think we’re kind of going for a really broad umbrella that would be put under an Americana kind of label. I don’t think there’s really a niche market anymore. A lot of people are really comfortable listening to roots American music. We have bits of calypso and jazz, ragtime and folk music all woven together in this album. That’s why we keep the songs so simple and straightforward and have the rhythm and the melody so clearly stated. We want them to be accessible. We want people to maybe even remember the melody after hearing it one time at a show. Our whole goal of music is trying to share this and give people something they can use. Music can actually make some sort of difference.
TDR: This new album is titled “Everlasting Arms.” Is this more of your same style or is this something entirely new that you want to go with? Are there any new people you’ve never worked with before?
LWK: A little bit of both. It’s a lot of our old standbys. We took a really new approach. Our drummer is new on this album, Benji Bohannon. It’s his first record with us. We used Orange Kellin on clarinet for the first time. Cassidy Holden, the bassist, has made a couple of records with me. Ben Polcer, the trumpet player, has played on the last three records of mine. Roberto Luti, who plays lead guitar, played on my album two albums ago. So you get a lot of the great, old standbys that I have in New Orleans, guys that I play gigs with regularly and have good relationships with. I feel like we tried to take it to a bigger level where the songs were louder and prouder and more direct, more rhythmic, more driving. I think people will find it a little easier to listen to on the radio. We took that roots sound, but we tried to give it a lot of drive and polish.
Luke Winslow King is scheduled for a string of performances from September to November playing mostly in New Orleans with select shows in Missouri, Mississippi and his home state, Michigan.
You can reach Gerald Ducote on Twitter @geraldducote.