What in the world is the Blues?

For Blues fanatics, this question could evoke a  long emotional and somewhat fanatical response. It's like talking about a lover, a god or religion, a friend, an addiction, an heirloom, or an achievement to brag about. 

So what really is the Blues?

Enter, Wikipedia! "Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

Simple explanation, right? Wrong!

Blues is not just a genre - it's a microcosm of life itself. There's sorrow, happiness, hope, loneliness, religion, hunger, satiety, sin, redemption, and love - all embedded in the songs and expressed through voice and instruments. That for me, is the Blues.