Almost everything that Dakota Staton sings is a blues-ballad or becomes one in her hands. And since she sings that type of song as well as anyone around, perhaps this would be a good time to look at ...

Earlier this year, two landmark albums by a pair of the blues' most quietly influential voices were re-released. Mississippi John Hurt's "Today!" (1966) and Lonnie Johnson's "Blues & Ballads" (1960) ...

It's easy to play the blues—or at the very least it's easy to learn the basics—but keeping the form fresh and interesting is another matter entirely. Likewise, any beginner can tackle a quiet ballad, ...

“I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song “It’s clear that the influence of the Custom Shop’s attention to detail is now ...

Irish musician and influential guitarist Gary Moore first shot to fame because of his association with Thin Lizzy frontman and fellow Irishman Gary Moore, where he served doing lead guitarist duties ...

Guitarist Luther Dickinson had always dreamed of having his own songbook, a timeless collection of his work, transcribed as lyrics and sheet music. “I was mainly self-taught in the early years,” the ...

This isn’t a book for the fainthearted. It’s certainly not for the puritanical. This magnificent, raunchy exploration of early blues lyrics contains references so scabrous they would make a pirate ...

The blues-punk power trio Jon Spencer Blues Explosion never disperse from the scene for long, and they regrouped earlier this year for their 10th album Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015. These ...

Pianist McCoy Tyner is best known for being a member of the John Coltrane Quartet beginning in 1960. During those years, Tyner re-invented the piano as a highly percussive, stirring instrument that ...

Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s well-traveled “Lackawanna Blues,” a loving but sharp-witted remembrance of a boardinghouse queen and her raffish subjects, rambles like an extended improvisation in its new ...

Few modern artists have as storied a past as that of Luther Dickinson. From being born into a musical family -- his father Jim was a world-renowned producer and musician, and he and his brother Cody ...

Dead & Company: blues, ballads, and lots of drums for ‘One More Saturday Night’ at Fenway As long as the band’s legacy continues to evolve in some way, shape, or form, there’s no sign that it will be ...