History of Texas Blues Music

In conjunction with the community-wide reading initiative, “Gulf Coast Reads,” Fort Bend County Libraries will present a special program on “Texas Blues Music” on Tuesday, October 16, beginning at 7:00 pm, in the Meeting Room of George Memorial Library, located at 1001 Golfview in Richmond.

The 2018 “Gulf Coast Reads” selection is Bluebird, Bluebird, a crime thriller written by Attica Locke. Set in a small town in deep East Texas, the rural noir is suffused with the unique music, color, and nuance of a place forgotten by time.

In her program, “Texas Blues Music,” Joyce Claypool Kennerly will bring to life the music that plays such a prominent role throughout the novel. Hear about some of the early artists who influenced the blues genre in Texas, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker, and Gatemouth Brown.

As the widow of the late Bob Claypool, longtime pop-music critic for the Houston Post and the Houston Chronicle, Kennerly gained a unique perspective of these artists when she attended their performances and sat in on her husband’s interviews with them.

Those attending this event will have an opportunity to hear examples of these blues artists’ music while Kennerly recounts anecdotes and memories she has of them and recalls how they influenced contemporary blues music. Listen to the soulful melodies of artists such as Bobby Blue Bland, Juke Boy Bonner, Albert King, Albert Collins, and Mance Lipscomb, while hearing about the influences that shaped the lives of the artists and their work.

Kennerly is the Programming and Events Manager for Fort Bend County Libraries, and she still maintains a life-long love for blues music.

Fort Bend County Libraries joins a number of libraries, schools, colleges, museums, bookstores, and other organizations in the Gulf Coast region for the “Gulf Coast Reads” reading initiative to restore reading to the center of American culture. Communities around the area are encouraged to come together to read and discuss one book.

Bluebird, Bluebird is the fourth novel written by Attica Locke, who is a writer and producer of the Emmy-winning Fox TV show Empire. The book won the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Novel – the mystery genre’s equivalent to the Oscar.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call George Memorial Library at 281-342-4455 or the library system’s Communications Office at 281-633-4734.