Musicians bring Blues to DCS

“Music is a magical, mysterious, universal language that speaks from one heart to another without words,” Debbie Bond told the students from Daleville Middle and High Schools who filled Warhawk Stadium May 18. “The Blues is powerful music that heals your heart and heals your soul.”

A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Bond is part of the Blues in Schools program sponsored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts Touring Artist Program.

She was accompanied by Radiator Rick Asherson on the keyboard and harmonica and Marcus “Jukeman” Lee on the drums. Featured guest artist was renowned Bluesman Little Jimmy Reed from Enterprise. “Lil’ Jimmy Reed is known all over the world and he just lives right down the road,” she said with a smile. “People often don’t know what is in their own back yard. The last time I played together with him was in England at the Marlboro Jazz and Blues Festival.”

Committed to preserving Blues heritage, the biographies of the people who formed this music and the cultural history behind their personal stories, Blues in Schools provides a direct line to keep this great American genre both relevant and thriving, Bond said. “Blues is the roots of all music. Whatever type of music you dig, it has its roots right here in the South in Blues music.”

“We love this school, she said. “I can walk into a school and I can tell in five minutes the atmosphere it has and this school has a wonderful cool atmosphere. “I saw all the trophies in the band room. I am incredibly impressed with your music program.”

“Some claim that Mississippi is the birthplace of the Blues but actually we have as much history in the Wiregrass,” Bond said, citing artists such as J.W. Warren and Big Mama Thornton from the Dale County town of Ariton. “She had a hit with ‘Hound Dog’ before Elvis Presley did,” she told the youngsters.

Bond credited the Wiregrass Blues Society for keeping the Blues alive. “They have done a great job in celebrating the artists from this region. We’ve got to give credit where it is due and celebrate it all year long.”

DHS musicians Raelyn Mansfield, Jascianna Straw, Moises Pablo, Austin Horne and Dixie Tyler performed with the Blues in Schools musicians. “I know it sounds corny,” Bond said. “But you guys are the future and you make us feel very, very good about the future.”