Delta Blues

Emphasis on Rhythm:
Although there is some minor difference of opinion about regional variations of Delta Blues, most people agree on what defines this style.  At its heart, Delta Blues is defined by instrumentation and by its emphasis on rhythm as well as on "bottleneck" slide. Who helped to define it was Son House who though never a commercial success, went on to be a great influence on the genre.

One of the earliest influences on this musical style was the Mississippi State Penitentiary.  Many men who would go on to create memorable Delta Blues recordings had been incarcerated at the prison, and indeed, some of them honed their craft there. The penitentiary is actually mentioned in some of the songs, such as "Midnight Special" and Bukka White's "Parchman Farm Blues" (Parchman Farm was a nickname for the prison).  Some of the artists who came to define Delta Blues included:  Jamie Anderson, Ishman Bracey, Willie Brown, R.L. Burnside, Sam Chatmon, Bob Cobb, James Cotton, Mike Cross, Arthur Crudup, David Honeyboy Edwards, Earl Hooker, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Paul Jones, Junior Kimbrough, Rubin Lacy, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Robert Lowery, Tommy McClennan, Charley Patton, Paul Pena, Pinetop Perkins, Snooky Pryor, Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim, Henry Sloan, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Hound Dog Taylor, Muddy Waters, Booker White, Big Joe Williams, and Howlin' Wolf.

Blues Basics:
At the very heart of Blues is sorrow and pain and it is this that binds a whole race together. It is always about misfortune and the yearning to be free. What comes through is the lost soul in the singer singing out what all similar souls feel within. It is a 12-bar bent-note melody and it is a chant of self pity.

There is a museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, created in 1998, designed to preserve and provide access to memorabilia pertaining to the Delta Blues tradition. It's called The Delta Blues Museum, and is housed in an old railroad depot that has since been renovated.