The REAL Down And Dirty Blues !

This morning I spent a couple of hours at the dealership with my truck. When I arrived in the customers' waiting lounge, I grabbed a chair in one of the "business" cubicles, as far away as possible from the mindless clamor of the television set.  Within moments I was writing a new post for my blog.

Everyone knows I love Blues music.  I love it because it is pure, heartfelt, goes right to the core of the issue, puts it out there where the light of day can get at it ... and makes me feel good, or at least, better.

There exists a different kind of "blues" though ... and I speak now of clinical depression.  That's the real down and dirty kind of blues.  Rough to go through, it tends to revisit when it wants to. When it lifts, though, the feeling is wonderful, bright, and peaceful. 

An artist needs contact with the extremes of both joy and sadness; that is where creativity is born -- at that intersection, that juncture.    

I've got four songs preparing for recording.  Two of them (originals) came out of my most recent bout with depression.  The first one, "Reverie On Wings" (alternate title "Let's Do It'), is a rhythmic and eclectic offering about escape and freedom -- or what I should call "flying the coop".  It is about trying to handle perceived confinement in an upbeat way that cuts through fog, clutter, and density.  The second one came while I sipped my orange juice during the morning hours on December 31st, when the depression episode was fully engaged and very heavy.  The song is eight-bar blues and it lyrically talks about pain -- the nature of it, the spirit of it, and the depths of it, and so the song is named "I Can't Stop The Pain".  At first, I set it up in a minor chord format, but it was too "laden", dark, so I changed it so it presents in C major, though with some minor chord passages.  The third song is an ancient cover that I've always liked and could relate to in an abstract way.   "It Had To Be You" is timely now in a more literal way and it feels good to do it.  And fourthly, my 12-bar "That's The Way You Make Me Feel" blues original is ready to be re-recorded -- this time with a more robust character, more initiative!

While deeply honoring the work and talents of all the early blues musicians and those current artists whose efforts have nurtured and maintained the genre, I'm an innovative soul ... and so I take liberties and add my own musical touch :)

And so this morning produced for me the writing of this post, a pleasant visit with my co-visitors at the dealership, and my happily-repaired truck !  And, amazingly, the outdoor temperature had soared to 40+ degrees :)