We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jim Madsen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jim below.
Jim, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
As a blues band, we’re always honoring the history of where the music came from and how it originated.
I needed content for our social media pages that wasn’t about “me, me, me”. I needed to develop something that people would want to stop and read, to share, and to give them a reason to follow us. At first it was just a random note on when a significant blues artist was born or died.
This became our “Blues History of the Day” posts. These are a way to first provide relative content for those visiting our social platforms, but also to remind readers of those that paved the path we now trod upon.
Currently I have about 1,000 individual posts that I can repost every year, and am continually adding to it as I write more content weekly.
Jim, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always loved the blues, and early on I played it as well. But playing guitar to pay for college I had to be versatile and played a number of different genres.,
During a trip to Mississippi several years ago I rekindled my passion for the music and since that point have dedicated everything I do to keeping the blues alive.
The blues is not just “the blues”. First it spans a number of sub-genres like Delta, Chicago, Texas, West Coat Jump, and on and on.
But each is significant and we tend to cover each variant when we play at festivals or music venues. But at the core is the traditional house party music, that up-tempo, toe tapping, table rocking, juke joint kind of blues.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
It’s simple…bands don’t make money from recording revenue through sales or royalties. Unless you’re in the top 10% of streams, you’re not going to make a dime. Those days are gone.
To even try to make any money as a musician, you have to be out there playing live in front of people. The most important thing that you can do is GO HEAR PEOPLE. Go to live music venues, buy whatever it is that the venue sells, and toss a few bucks into the band’s tip jar.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Absolutely love playing the blues in front of an audience that loves good music. Doesn’t matter what your background is, you can’t sit still and listen to the blues, it gets your feet moving.
We also tell a little blues history in between the songs and we introduce each one. It’s great to see everyone’s reaction as they get into the stories and rich history of the blues.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bigtrainblues.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigtrainblues/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues
- Twitter: https://x.com/BigTrainBlues
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BigTrainBlues
Image Credits
(c)LightningHorse for “2023 Dusk Til Dawn” pics