Topic: A Great contemporary Country Blues song: Possible or not?

[Rivers]

I've added a 'songwriting' tag to this thread in the hope it inspires more posts, threads & general discussion. The fact that we didn't have such a tag before now, twelve years after WC first spluttered into life, reinforces its validity.

[Rambler]

I think if someone played a set that included, say:

Judge Harsh Blues
Shake 'Em On Down
Mamlish Blues
New Cairo Blues
Slidin' Delta
Drive Away Blues

 there are a bunch of people who wouldn't notice New Cairo was not of the time,

For New Cairo, substitute Louise (Paul Rishell), Will and Testament (James), or any number by Paul Geremia (My Kind of Pace, Slidell, Kick it in the Country, Somethings Gotta be Arranged).

[Rivers]

Right, Will & Testament is another good SJ one, and I agree with the others you mentioned. There really is a lot of great CB songwriting happening out there. We should make a point of identifying and elevating it, for the simple reason that if we don't, who else is gonna do it?

[doctorpep]

I really like a lot of Paul Geremia's recordings, but I can tell quite easily that his originals on Love, Murder & Mosquitoes are not songs that were recorded in the '20s or '30s. The lyrics simply seem forced, too clean or, at worst, like a parody. This doesn't mean the songs are bad, but just that I can tell they are not of a certain time or place.

[Bob B]

For contemporary blues that fit seamlessly into the early country blues genre, you can't beat John Miller's Chester County, Spanish Breakdown, and Titanic.  As I look at the back of the  First Degree Blues CD, I am amazed to see that these were recorded close to 40 years ago.  Time goes by at warp speed!!  Anyway, great picking and singing by a modern master.

Bob

[Stumblin]

Lick stealing and reinterpretation. That would be one or two ways to attempt to keep a musical form relevant yet still within a hypothetically proscribed aesthetic. Or something, I'm going to bed now...

[Michael Cardenas]

Modern Country Blues certainly exists, but some would ask how traditional it is and that in itself is a bag of worms. I would cite three components in any contemporary attempts - blue ribbon picking, stellar singing and the time-honored ideals of storytelling. While comparing now to then in these three areas it could be said that a few players exhibit prowess with their instruments, yet on average tend to fail at the lyric and it's physical delivery. Unfortunately, when you have a shoddy verse delivered by a low-rent singer the listener will demand twice rebates. Guitarists are a dime a dozen or a barrel of monkies depending how you look at it, rarely will an audience give a free pass to players who can't deliver a vocal. Musicians who do carry the free pass based on instrumental skill are often overcompensating and I can't reckon how healthy that is for musical "progress" in general.

[funguy]

I have to say that Stack Lee's Blues fits the bill for me (if I'm thinking of the right version, Stacker Lee... with the course about the Stetson Hat)
Also Guy Davis' Georgia Jelly Roll, and how about Jorma Kaukonen's True Religion?