Journey through the history of the blues with the Bluesman, Willie Brown, as he spins stories, both fact and fiction, chronicling his travels and the pivotal encounters along his route. Hear his tales about the first blues artist, The Great One, and chuckle at his anecdote about a man who named his baby Rock-n-Roll, after his love for the music!

The vibrant illustrations by Christopher Myers and the heartfelt poems by Walter Dean Myers from their book Blues Journey are brought to life in this music-rich event charting one man's path from his beginnings as a wandering young guitarist in Mississippi to his ultimate success as a famous strummer in Chicago. When Willie recounts his life story, he makes connections to highlights of the musical genre's history, its roots in the field hollers of slaves, and its links to segregation, the civil rights movement, Elvis, and hip-hop. Photographic projections against the mostly blue set evoke the mood of the lyrics, and both traditional songs and new tunes mix in this verbal and visual duet.

The deep traditions of African American culture and music are on display as the comforting call-and-response singing in African music joins with the heartbreak of slaves in the United States to create the evocative new language that is the blues. In this stimulating production from The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour series, you will feel, hear, and see how the distinctive world of the blues has been woven into the fabric of American culture.