BrothaRic Patton

Some weeks leave your boots dusty. Others leave your soul full. Last week did both.

This Monday found me doing something I don't do very often—sleeping.

I finally made it back home from Helena, Arkansas, after spending the week at summer camp, and I guess my body had been keeping score. I eased back into my chair to rest for a minute, and the next thing I knew, I'd slept away most of the day.

Truth is, it felt pretty good.

I'm not making excuses. I'm just plain tired.

When you spend your days pouring into young…

There comes a time when you just have to quit waitin' on the perfect words.

I had a feelin' today was the day to make a post.

Truth is, it's been a while. Not because there ain't been anything to say. Hell, it's been the opposite. Sometimes a man's got so much rattlin' around in his head he can't figure out which thought to grab . That'll bruise a man up if you let it. It'll lock you down tighter than an rusted gate. Before you know it, you've talked yourself right out of sayin' anything at all.

Well... we're…

I woke up this morning with music already playing in my head.

No radio. No record spinning. Just a melody floating around. It got me wondering where songs really come from. Funny thing , I've been writing and playing music for years, but I'd never stopped to think about it quite like that.

The whole process is a real mystery.

When you break Western music down, it's really just a bunch of mathmatics. Chords. Scales. Timing. Patterns. There are only so many combinations that still sound like music. When you look…

WEUP wasn't just a radio station. Hell, it was a lifeline.

Growing up in North Alabama, WEUP was where I first heard the blues. Back then, it was the People's Radio. If you wanted Black music, soul music, community news, and voices that sounded like home, you turned that dial to WEUP.

AM radio had its own rhythm. It came on when the sun came up and signed off when the sun went down. Everything in between was a soundtrack to our lives. Soul music. Blues music. Community. They weren't just spinning records—they…

I'm sure there's a lot more to Alabama blues culture than I know, especially being from the northern part of the state. I've been around a while, and I've seen my share of it, but I can only really speak on what I lived.

 Growing up around Huntsville, blues wasn't something you studied. It was something you heard. Something you felt. It lived in the clubs, the VFW halls, the juke joints, and the people who walked through those doors every weekend.

I can remember places like the Nightlight Club, the River…

Can you believe somebody asked me why THE BLUES still matters?

Before I answer that, we need to get clear on something.

What the hell are you talking about when you say "the blues"?

Because depending on what you mean, the question doesn't even make sense.

Are you talking about the blues as Black people's voice finally being recorded and preserved? Is that what you mean?

If so, why wouldn't that matter?

Why wouldn't the voice of the people who helped shape American music matter?

Why wouldn't the stories,…

  Now, before we get too deep into it, let me say this: if being independent is all you've ever known, it doesn't feel all that strange. Hell, it's just life.

I've never been anything other than an independent artist myself. That's the only road I've ever traveled. Sure, I've been around musicians who signed record deals. I've known folks through the years who had labels behind them, managers making calls, and people helping move things along. Their journey looked a whole lot different than mine.

I can…

That's a damn good question.

When did I first hear the Blues?

Truth is, I think I heard it the day I was born.

Maybe it was my first cry.

Now, I didn't know it was Blues, of course. A newborn baby don't know nothing about categories, record stores, or music historians. All I knew was I came into this world making noise, trying to tell somebody I was here. Ain't that some shit !

But if we're going to answer this question honestly, we have to talk about what people mean when they say "the Blues."

That's where…

Everything moves fast now.

Too damn fast.

Fast shipping.

Fast content.

Fast food.

Fast forgetting.

Some days it feels like the whole world is running toward nowhere.

Then you hold something handmade.

And the clock slows down.

The Old Man's Knife

Years ago I met an O.G. carrying the same pocketknife he'd owned for years.

Thing looked like it'd survived three wars.

The handle had worn smooth.

The blade had been sharpened so many times it was crooked.

I asked him why he kept it.

Said, "Because it still works."

That answer had…

Somewhere between the hiss of those old records and the crackle of a tube amp lives a truth most folks forgot about.

Perfection never made nobody feel a damn thing.

You can spend all day polishing a song until it shines like a new pickup truck sitting on the showroom floor. But shine ain't soul. Never has been.

The blues taught us all that.