Chicago Blues
Urban blues evolved from classic blues following the movement of African Americans from the southern United States to northern industrial cities like Chicago. The Chicago Blues scene was heavily influenced by Mississippi bluesmen who travelled the “Blues highway” to Chicago in the early 1940s, for example Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters.
Bruce Iglauer, founder of Alligator Records stated that, “Chicago Blues is the music of the industrial city, and has an industrial sense about it.” Additionally, recognising the shift in Blues, Chicago Blues singer and guitarist Kevin Moore described the Blues transition, “You have to put some new life into it, new blood, new perspectives. You can’t keep talking about mules, workin’ on the levee”.