Go Zac Go

Zac Harmon is good. Growing up in the heart of Jackson, Mississippi, on the legendary, blues-packed district of Farish Street, Zac knows a little about the relatively sad genre. More than just knowing about it, he lives blues music and has an understanding of the sound, most evident on his albums From The Root (2009), Blues According To Zacariah (2005), and Live at Babe and Ricky's Inn (2002). Harmon's music has a refreshing, true blues feel. Even though his career has been severely underrated, nothing seems to stop him from blasting out the blues. See for yourself:

After finding out about Zac's origin in one of blues music's most favorite cities, I decided to look up some more places famous for the blues, and this is what I found:

01. Africa
According to Africa and the Blues by Gerhard Kubik, blues music in its earliest, simplest state came from Africa. Later on, blues music evolved from African American work songs.

02. Nashville
Boasting the title of "Music City," it's apparent that Nashville has country in a stronghold. However, blues music seems to have popularity here too.

03. Memphis
Just down the road west of Nashville is Memphis, which has a Beale Street full of music, and blues is no exception.

04. South Texas
Home of Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Alamo, this is one tough place. It still makes for good blues music though.

05. Clarksdale, Mississippi and Tutwiler, Mississippi
Centers for what is known as the "Delta blues," Clarksdale and Tutwiler have a rich history in the genre; Clarksdale was even the site of famous blues singer Bessie Smith's death. There is a variety of things to see and do in the tourist traps, most notably embarking on The Mississippi Blues Trail.

06. New Orleans
The Big Easy should be an easy one to figure out. It has some of the best music in the world, including jazz. Although slightly less famous for being a marker of blues music, Nawlins is so jammed with music no one would ever know or care that jazz was technically there first.

07. Chicago
Blues music migrated to Chicago around the 1950s. Jazz music was there beforehand, so it was only a matter of time that blues showed up.

08. Detroit
Sure, Motor City's probably more notable for the phenomenon known as Motown, taken from Motown Records. But, blues guy John Lee Hooker spent most of his time in Detroit and had a significant influence there, so I think it's safe to say blues is pretty important in Detroit.

09. St. Louis
St. Louis is like another New Orleans - it has a lot of blues, jazz, and Chuck Berry. Well, New Orleans doesn't have a lot of Chuck Berry, but they do have Mardi Gras so I'm sure it all evens out somehow.

10. North Dakota
I believe we've had a blues singer or two come through North Dakota at some point in time. There is what's known as the Fargo Blues Festival, a 2-day blues lollapalooza held in July each year at the Newman Outdoor Field. It's something to look into if you're tired of riding the Scheels wheel. http://www.fargobluesfest.com/
Artist of the Week: Zac Harmon
(image taken from google.com)
Zac Harmon is the artist of the week. You can keep reading this unnecessary rambling about him or you can just refer to the paragraphs above. Still bored enough to keep going? Okay. If you're still reading this, you're most likely wasting your time, because I have nothing more to say about Zac Harmon. Therefore, you will not be getting any more information about him and these past few seconds have been taken from your life forever. Think of all the things you could've accomplished while reading the previous sentences. You could've spent that precious time discovering the cure for cancer, going for a walk, playing Black Ops, rewatching the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl, buying an island in the Bahamas, calling your grandma, learning a new language, driving across the ocean, practicing for The Biggest Loser, traveling to Zimbabwe, reading a book, meeting with a Jehovah's Witness, not meeting with a Jehovah's Witness, thinking of new Chuck Norris facts, practicing the guitar, listening to blues music, and that's about it. Yeah, I'd say that's about it.

New Album of the Week: Last Train Home by Foghat
Released 03.08.11
(image taken from amazon.com)
Foghat! Need I say more? Of course this album has to be good. Although they're not your traditional blues music aficiandos, Foghat has got a pretty solid record, Last Train Home, set to be released on February 8, 2011. Don't worry. The sound does not stray away from blues. Sure, it's blues-rock. But it's blues nonetheless. After looking up some Foghat history, I learned that the slow riders actually started out as a rock band intertwined with blues. So I think listeners can trust that Foghat knows what it's doing. My recommended tracks are, naturally, all of them. But my recommended tracks that are especially important are: "Born for the Road," "It Hurts Me Too," "Louisiana Blues," and "Good Good Day."