This lesson deals with the emergence of the blues as a form of popular music on the radio, beginning in Helena, Arkansas in 1940. Students will understand and discuss the relationship between technological and social change, discuss how...

Information on the life and discography of Esther Bigeou.

An extraordinary curriculum unit to teach blues and all its cultural implications.

Article and interview first published in Clockwork Review about Koko Taylor's, "Queen of the Blues", career.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Leadbelly, an American folk-blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose ability to perform a vast repertoire of songs, in conjunction with his notoriously violent life, made him a legend.

Known as the "Empress of the Blues", Bessie Smith was one of the greatest blues singers. Read a brief biography of her career as well as view a video performance of her singing with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra with this resource.