The National Blues Museum is now on Spotify! To find us, either search for NationalBluesMuseum on Spotify or click the link below. Our staff is working to curate many different Blues playlists for you. If there’s a playlist you’d like to see, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Happy listening!   https://open.spotify.com/user/?si=-GhsLKjNS1SULlg8peuSdQ     

The National Blues Museum is proud to announce our latest exhibition, Have Blues Will Travel. This exhibition showcases the hardships and inequality Black Blues musicians faced while traveling to play concerts in the Jim Crow era. Since Black artists were not paid royalties on their songs in the way white musicians were, touring was among the only […]

Mashed Potato U.S.A. Mashed potatoes are a well-known American food. Mashed potatoes became a staple in America around the 1700s because potatoes were affordable and easy to grow. They were easy to grow and cook with a high vitamin C level, potassium, and fiber, meeting all of the nutritional needs. In 1962 legend James Brown […]

Cake Walking’ Blues’ Do you know the origins of the Cakewalk? The Cakewalk has its origins on slave plantations before the Civil War, with slaves participating in an elaborate dance with the winner receiving a cake at the end similar to the ring shout, a religious dance ritual from West Africa. During a cakewalk: “couples […]

Catfish Blues Cookin’ with the Blues is a 3-part segment featuring three dishes found in Blues songs and are staples in the American South. The dish is a staple in Southern cooking and is inspired by the artists that sang about them.   Catfish thrive in the Mississippi Delta’s soil-rich waters and the channels that branch […]

Sitting on Washington Ave between 6th and 7th Streets, the National Blues Museum resides in what was initially known as the Grand-Leader building, most known today as the Stix, Baer, and Fuller building. Stix, Baer, and Fuller was a department store chain that operated from 1892-1984. In 1906, their department store occupied an entire block […]

The National Blues Museum showcases a contemporary exhibit with many digital interactives, rather than your traditional object-centered history museum. Visitors learn about the Blues’ rich history and explore aspects of Blues music that many people may not know through songs, film, pictures, objects, and digital interactives. The design and development of the Museum from sketches […]

Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates in Mississippi, on December 30, 1928. After his father’s death at just seven years old, Ellas moved up to Chicago with his aunt, who later adopted him, and he took the surname McDaniel. In Chicago, he was introduced to the classical violin by Professor O.W. Frederick at the […]

St. Louis influenced the Blues as it sat right along the Blues Highway, Highway 61. Historically, musicians stopped and performed in St. Louis as they traveled from the South to the big recording labels in Chicago. Songwriters, such as W.C. Handy, were inspired to write based on their experiences in St. Louis and created monumental […]

Did Robert Johnson Really Sell His Soul to the Devil? One night at a Mississippi juke joint in 1930, Son House and Willie Brown played their infamous Delta Blues tunes to a packed house. During the intermission, a young, bright-eyed, 19-year-old Robert Johnson conjured up the courage to take hold of the musician’s instruments and […]

Visitors An inherent risk of exposure to respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, senior citizens and guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable. […]