What’s On My Mind (and My Reading List) — August 2025
Back from the South, Inspired by Blues (and Bourbon)
It’s been quite an emotional set of months since our last iteration of this series. After dealing with the increasing demands of my day job, I then took TWO extended trips through the southern United States. I discussed briefly the extent of the first trip in the last reading list. This month’s reading list is about that second trip.
At the start of this month, my family and I took a trip down the Mississippi Blues Trail. From Clarksdale to Indianola to Greenwood, we experienced the rich history of the blues tradition, steeped in the roots of the African-American experience. We visited museums and memorials, went to famous blues clubs and bars, and even got to listen to live performances along the way.
As a lifelong musician, I left that ten-day trip inspired and rejuvenated. And of course—because I am me—I came back with plenty of books to read.
History of the Blues
The following books explore the history of the blues across the United States from the Mississippi Delta to Memphis, Tennessee to Chicago, Illinois. They delve into the blues’ origins in African spirituality, southern U.S. and African work songs, and musical genres ranging from country to hymnals.
Some of these books offer a broad stroke of blues music, while others are biographical accounts or recorded interviews of famous blues musicians.
Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King by B. B. King with David Ritz
Blues Before Sunrise: The Radio Interviews by Steve Cushing
Blues People: Negro Music in White America by LeRoi Jones
Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music by Burton W. Peretti
Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and Blues Influences in African American Literature and Film, edited by Graham Lock and David Murray
Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow
Bonus: Bourbon, Whiskey, & History
As a bonus, I wanted to include a biographical account of the life of Nearest Green, America’s first African-American master distiller and mentor figure of Jack Daniel. The book in question is Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest by Fawn Weaver.
Whiskey is my alcoholic beverage of choice, and Uncle Nearest is my whiskey brand of choice. You can’t explore the history of Mississippi Delta blues without dropping into a few bars and blues clubs along the way. Uncle Nearest was my companion the whole journey. This book and this amazing story explain why I hold the legacy of Nearest Green so close to my heart.
Happy Reading!
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