New blues is a name given to blues music by artists such as The White Stripes, John Mayer Trio, Seasick Steve, NuBlues, Stephen Dale Petit, and The Black Keys, who are ushering the blues into the 21st century.
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The new blues revolution
The new blues revolution refers to the time in the late aughts when the contemporised form of the deep blues caught the mainstream imagination, and the blues thereby gained a wider audience.
It is akin to the British blues boom of the mid-1960s pioneered by artists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Phil May, who adapted and added creatively to traditional American blues (e.g., Delta blues, Country blues, Chicago blues, and other blues genres originating in early 1900s America). The British blues boom made British blues popular both in the United Kingdom and in the United States during this time.
The new blues revolution is a predominantly United Kingdom-based phenomenon, although bands such as The Checks from New Zealand have also contributed to the movement. A Los Angeles-based band calls itself the New Blues Revolution in solidarity with this movement.
Stephen Dale Petit’s contribution
Stephen Dale Petit is a major figurehead in the new blues revolution. He believes “the UK needs to be reminded of their treasure trove contribution to the Blues” and that it is “important that [young people] are exposed to raw, deep blues firsthand and they know it’s available to them.”