Page 61 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2022

I AM THE BLUES

If you want to hear stories about the blues and take a
trip through time to hear what it was like to grow up in the
Deep South as a blues musician, then I Am The Blues is a
documentary you don’t want to pass up.
Largely a tour of the blues with Bobby Rush, the film starts
with Jimmy “Duck” Holmes in Bentonia, MS, at his world famous
Blue Front Café. Back in the day, musicians would stand in line
for a chance to play at the Blue Front. Nowadays, it’s where
older musicians gather on the front porch to tell stories about
the heydays of blues, playing on the Chitlin’ Circuit.
People like R.L. Boyce, Little Freddie King, L.C. Ulmer, Robert
Bilbo Walker and, of course, Rush talk about how it was in the
old days – how at the age of seven or eight, Rush dreamed
about playing on stage with the likes of Cab Calloway and
Muddy Waters. Rush realized this dream by the age of 20,
when he and his family moved to Chicago, and he befriended
Muddy Waters and Little Walter and continued his blues career.
Rush takes us from the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta
to a crawfish boil in Louisiana, where blues artists gather to
meet and renew old friendships. The great Henry Gray is
there, along with Carol Fran, Lazy Lester, Barbara Lynn and
Lil’ Buck Senegal – singing, playing and telling stories about
each other. Some of their stories and songs will bring a tear to
your eye. If not, then you don’t understand the blues.
The documentary ends up where it started, at the Blue
Front Café with Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and others, continuing
their conversations about yesteryear.
This is truly one of the best documentaries out there and
should be on your must-see list. It is available to stream on
multiple platforms, including Sundance Now, DIRECTV, VUDU
Free, IMDB TV Amazon Channel, Apple iTunes and more.

Tom Andrews is a Biloxi, MS, native by way of the Arkansas Delta.
Andrews joined the Picayune Item newspaper in Picayune, MS,
as an ad salesman in 1979 at the age of 35. He quickly rose to
the position of Advertising Manager, and then spent 10 years as
Publisher. He served a five-year term on the Board of Directors of
the Mississippi Press Association, as well as a one-year term as
President. In addition to being a festival fanatic and serving as Blues
Festival Guide’s boots on the ground, Andrews has been a part of
the Blues Festival Guide advertising sales team for the past eight
years. He is presently newly retired, living in Fort Worth, TX.

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