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Canadian blues artists have a much greater international presence these days. Did
you get a sense that might happen when you were in Toronto?”

“I can't speak for the whole country, but Toronto always had a strong blues scene,

both with visiting musicians, primarily from Chicago, and with local bands. Almost
all the local bands were white: Whiskey Howl, Downchild, Crowbar, the Ugly
Ducklings, McKenna Mendelson Mainline, Jeff Healey, the Powder Blues Band, Colin

James, Colin Linden. Though on my radar, they were considered local bands by me,
and others, with little thought of them
becoming known in the USA or abroad.

Perhaps the resurgence you note today
relates directly to the decrease in Black
blues coming out of Chicago, Detroit, New

York, LA. White musicians are filling a
worrisome void, but Canadian artists like
Sue Foley, Jeff Healey and Colin Linden still

had to leave Canada to make it (no one
listens to prophets in their own land....). For
the record, I have music from the 70s by the

artists listed above, but Colin Linden is the
only ‘current’ Canadian musician I have
continued to follow.”

Kenny Neal and his family play a large part
in the book…

“Kenny Neal, and the Neal family are very

important to my blues story, but they did not
have any influence in me writing that story
down - I have only seen the brothers once in
the last twenty years, and haven't seen

Kenny since 2016. The Neals were a big part of my life for ten of the 50 years covered
in the books, so I had a fair bit to say about them, but as for inspiration to write,
Muddy Waters, personal friends, Ian Marquis, Drew Hunter and Anne Marshall, and

my son, a performance poet and would-be novelist had much larger impacts on my
writing than the Neals. The main thing I learned about the blues from the Neals was
that I was not cut out for the music business. They showed me all the negatives, the

underbelly of the music world, in short a lifestyle not conducive to the things I
cherish most. Please don’t read too much into this. Reflect that I was born into a very
white suburban situation and was only 24 when I met Kenny and family.”

How do you feel the blues has evolved over the last few decades?

“The short answer: more and more rock influences, and less piano (which I miss!).
So-called Southern soul blues no longer seems to be bluesy, but more R & B with an
emphasis on danceability rather than lyrics, or notable blues music patterns. I don’t