The Voice of the Southern Diaspora: Muddy Waters and the Multi-Layered Influences Associated with the Diffusion of Blues Culture

Abstract

This paper focuses on the dynamic nature of the Southern Diaspora, the twentieth-century mass migration of African-Americans in the United States from the rural south to the urban north and west. The significant migratory links between the Mississippi Delta and Chicago, Illinois, and the influences it had on the larger diaspora are emphasized. The music of famed blues artist Muddy Waters is used as a lens to demonstrate both the causes and the significant impacts of this diaspora. By exploring the multi-layered circuitry of change associated with the evolution and diffusion of Delta blues music, this paper reveals the transnational and transcultural dimensions of the Southern Diaspora.