The Blues Highway and the Lure of Going Around
I have been seduced by the Lure…The Lure of Going Around. I first hear/read this phrase in a book by a fave author, Peter Guralnick. I have read most all of Peter’s books. I love reading his books for a few reasons: he writes with a powerful empathy, he knew a lot of his subjects first hand and he is a fan…a true fan of the music, people and culture he writes about. Plus he is from New England, like me.
He writes with a personal pen and his stories swoop you up and take you places found in the pages of his books. Click here for some notes I took while reading his excellent book, “Lost Highway“. My notes talk about Peter’s discussion on The Lure of Going Around.
This post is not about Peter Guralnick, but it is about The Lure of Going Around. It wasn’t until I was half way through my Aussie experience until I realised I was knee deep in my own Lure. Like the old bluesman and folk singers, I was going around and creating and telling my own stories. Click this link for my previous post on my own lure.
And now, “here comes that old travelin’ jones once again”. We are off to London in just under ten days. As excited as I am about moving there, I am really jonesing to take a special trip back in The States. I want to travel the old roads from New Orleans right up to Chicago…The Blues Highway.
A few years ago I bought a book by Richard Knight called, “The Blues Highway” (links: Amazon & Google Books). It is a travel guide for taking that old road that so many old musicians traveled years ago. It does a great job detailing the true travel aspects of the trip: restaurants, radio stations, juke joints, music halls…you name it, they have it for each town you will want to drive through. He also does a great job with bios and regional backgrounds and stories. have a look at the links for more detail on the book.
I used Knight’s book to create a map with all of the stops along the way highlighted. There is much more work to do on it, but this is a good start. Read the notes on Lost Highway and then follow the map. It may make a bit more sense once you do.
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