Devil at the Confluence

Book excerpt: The Saint Louis Blues. It's more than just a slogan or a song. It's a statement of fact. St. Louis has a long and proud connection to the world of the blues. Devil at the Confluence is a story of our country's music that has never before been told. Out of ragtime, out of jazz, out of big band music and beyond, American music came into its own at the confluence of the Big Muddy and the Mississippi rivers and out of the talents and experiences of the musicians who lived there. Filled with biographies and original illustrations, Devil at the Confluence chronicles talents as varied as St Louis Bessie, the legendary Peetie Wheatstraw and Henry Townsend to study this regions' contribution to popular American music. Artist Kevin Belford has combined years of scholarly research and discovery with his well-renowned artwork to present a book that will be equally at home as a lovely coffee table book or in a serious music library. Included with the book is a special compact disc of recordings by St Louis legends produced by Bob Koester, a foremost authority in the field and the founder of Delmark Records. Artists surveyed on the cd include such early bluesmasters as Barrelhouse Buck, Speckled Red, Roosevelt Sykes, St Louis Jimmy, Big Joe Williams, Mary Johnson and many more.