CHICAGO — Music lovers can take a bus tour through the South Side this weekend to learn more about the city’s history of blues music.
The Blues Bus Tour is 1-5 p.m. Saturday and will begin and end at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St. Tickets are $65 for non-members and $55 for museum members. Masks are optional.
Chicago historian Wayne Galasek will lead the tour through South Side communities such as Bronzeville. He’ll take visitors on a journey to learn how the Delta blues arrived in Chicago during the Great Migration and grew into its own distinct sound, according to the event’s website.
Maxwell Street, Pilgrim Baptist Church — the future site of the National Museum of Gospel Music — and a special tour of Chess Records offered by Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation will be among the stops on the tour.
Courtsey: Raeburn Flerlage,
During the Great Migration, Black Americans relocated from Southern states to Northern states and brought blues music with them, according to the event’s website. As they adapted to their new life in cities, their music evolved to reflect their surroundings.
In Chicago, blues music was electrified. It grew popular all around the world, and Chicago was a hub for playing, recording and creating the blues.
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