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see blues dying, but it is definitely injured. We are not in the “best of times”...
Personally I listen to less acoustic pre-war blues than I used to, and a lot more things
I wouldn't have bothered with at all twenty years ago... It has been quite a while since
a “new” blues person has bowled me over... but I am still searching and keeping open
ears and mind.”

In the books, you strike a fine balance between being a critic and a superfan…

“I definitely consider myself a superfan: well informed, well read, well traveled but
also opinionated. I am a critic for sure, but
not by profession. I have no musical skills

and therefore have a hard time just being
a critic. I know what I like and what I don't
but can't really justify it with relevant
musical language. I have certainly never
pretended to be a real critic.”

Is there anything you think you might have
written differently now?

“Chronicles was only written in 2023 so
there isn't much I would change. At the
time I was conscious of how important

Kingfish Ingram was becoming, but I hadn't
seen him live so I didn't say much about
him, I finally saw him in 2024. Likewise I
had never seen Mavis Staples when I wrote
the book but now have. I could certainly
add to their sections, but it is not critical,
not worth a revision at least at this time.

I have also seen Selwyn Birchwood in a
very different environment that I could

comment on, and Bobby Rush playing solo
- something I hadn’t really been aware he
could do when I wrote his piece. These are the only things I can think of that I could/
would change if there were to be a second edition... When I first wrote A Man & the
Blues, I envisioned it as an oversized picture-book. This didn't happen because of
cost and technical restrictions. If I thought I could sell more copies of Chronicles by
adding more photos, a second edition could possibly involve images that had been
chosen for A Man & the Blues, but I wouldn’t do this unless they could be in colour (i.e.
someone else other than me would have to pay for their addition).”

Finally, what are your plans for the future?

“I will of course continue to see as many live blues shows that cross my
path, hopefully for many years to come. Writing-wise, I am currently writing a jazz
memoir. It will be similar in style as Blues Chronicles but significantly smaller in size
- approximately 70 artist-essays.”

Many thanks!