Contemporary Blues

Contemporary blues is the blues as it has been practised since the 1980s by artists working inside the tradition with modern production and repertoire: electric bands, polished studio sound and new songs alongside the standard repertory. Its modern era opens with *Robert Cray*'s soul-inflected "Strong Persuader" (1986) and the crossover of *Stevie Ray Vaughan*, and it runs through *Keb' Mo'*'s acoustic revivalism, the arena scale of *Joe Bonamassa* and the roots songwriting of *Susan Tedeschi* and *Tedeschi Trucks Band*. It is sustained by a dedicated circuit of labels such as #Alligator#, festivals and blues societies.