Last week, Meadows School of the Arts hosted The Blue Shoe Project for a Blues performance by the famous, grammy award winning, "Honey Boy" Edwards. I LOVED watching this man play. The emotion that pulsed through him was an awesome testimony to the power felt in musical expression. From how his head swayed, his body rocked back and forth, and how upon hitting a soulful note his taping foot would kick out showed how he was completely taken over by the experience. He was so taken over by the music that one time, when the interviewer came back on stage after a song to ask him more questions about his experience as a Blues musician pre- and during the civil rights movement, Honeyboy didn't even acknowledge him, he just kept groovin'. While the music was tremendous, I think the educational aspect could have been done better. The interviewer wasn't very compelling, or his questions didn't direct Honeyboy to particularly demonstrative tales of specific struggles of racial injustice. It would have been cool if they could have broken down the meanings of the songs or expressed the meaning of the songs within their time period. If Blue Shoe Project is trying to raise awareness as well as music appreciation, they should improve upon their method of informing. (I'm sure interviewing a 94 year old man isn't the easiest thing to do) Honeyboy played the guitar like it was his intuition, but he was a little hard to understand and a little out-of-it mentally. It was a great spontaneous event to attend though! I want to do some research on some good Blues artists and more music with soooooooul.
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