The Sacred & The Profane: The Blind Boys of Alabama and Adolphus Bell meet in the middle at the Trus

by Jim Reed

Most folks who were either raised in the South —or who have taken it upon themselves to learn a bit about the popular music traditions which have emanated from this region over the past century or so— cannot help but have at least a cursory knowledge of both traditional rhythm and blues and black gospel.

However, despite ample and undeniable evidence which demonstrates that these two seemingly incongruous genres are in fact inextricably linked (“bound to be bound” to borrow a phrase from a songwriter friend of mine), there still exists no small amount of confusion over the roots of not only rural, acoustic “country” blues and its cousin, electric “city” blues, but of their flashy grandchild: rock and roll.

Adolphus Bell knows this heritage better than most.

Source: Connect Savannah