Story by Jim O’Neal

The Great Migration – the movement of more than six million African Americans from the South to urban destinations in the northern and western states – vibrated to an ever-developing soundtrack of blues, jazz and gospel that found new strongholds far from the music’s Southern roots. In this feature, learn how the Great Migration helped to develop and spread the blues in the 20th century.

Read this informative article here in our 2018 Blues Festival Guide magazine.