The Blues Road: The Great Migration

The Windy City

The Chicago Sound!

The Late, Great Muddy Waters

The "Great Migration" from the South

Hugh can’t understand the economics of buying 3 pairs of boots for the price of one. Has the last great symbol of American manhood fallen to global economics? Are cowboy boots now made in China? Can you imagine? Chinese Cowboys! Yes the Chinese are getting into Line Dancing and listening to the Grand Ole Opry.

Tim said “ that’s why we bought some light tan polish for re-Beijing our boots so that we would find it easier to be Yanking them on again”

Discussion this morning on the road to Chicago was about the economy. Isn’t it strange that despite all those miles of separation from events in the UK, election fever has spread across the Atlantic? Tim wants to run the country, Hugh wants to sort out the bankers but I just want to listen to good blues.

Reading the news today, it appears that our biggest potential headache may be caused by that cloud of Ash from the Iceland volcano hanging over the UK and threatening our return next week. If the flights are cancelled and the blues is good in Chicago, then perhaps there is no problem.

Flat farmland, large trucks, and big skies wiz past us as we pursue our goal. We have now driven 1300 miles. You can spend a day travelling, living on or at the side of the highway and its like being hermetical sealed from the rest of America. In the last 2 days we have covered half the miles between New Orleans and Chicago. Back to the flatlands the countless farms and gain silos!

Some of our blog groupies wonder whether we are getting on. Can 3 guys stay friends on a trip driving across the US and not fall out.

Travelling across the US has been a lot easier than we expected. The Prius has been very economical and we have become experts at searching out accommodation and negotiating the best price. We take a double room and take one of the mattresses off the bed. One of us sleeps on the sprung base, one on the mattress and we take it in turns to sleep on the bed. Accommodation costs us £50-60 a night, which works out at £20 per person. You can imagine the mess the next day and what the maid must think of our nigh time romps. 3 guys sharing!

Travelling takes it out of you and we are looking forward to getting to Chicago and chilling out for a few days. I can see that we are tired because the guitars haven’t been out of their cases for a few days.

Chicago Gothic. Gotham City?

We are at last in Chicago. This is were all those musician eventual migrated to from the poverty and segregation of the South. The process started soon after the Civil War but accelerated during the 20^th Century and by the 2^nd World War half a million had made the journey. It is now referred to as the “Great Migration”

This is a great city and will take some time to get our head around it.

Just for a change we heard some Nigerian Highlife Music from our Nigerian Cabbie as he drove us back to our hotel from the Navy Pier.