Blues Artists at Mahindra Festival Reveal Why Genre Stays Relevant and Restless
From seasoned veterans to young revivalists, performers at this year's Mahindra Blues Festival articulate why the blues genre remains restless, relevant, and deeply rooted in lived human experience. The festival showcases how this historic musical form continues to evolve through cinematic collaborations, youthful engagement, and global cultural exchanges.
Eric Gales: Blues Crosses Into Cinematic World
Eric Gales arrived in Mumbai with Grammy glory and a stiff neck, having slipped on ice just hours before his flight from North Carolina. "I landed on my neck and back," the blues guitarist states matter-of-factly, shrugging off the injury with characteristic grit that mirrors his musical approach. His nickname Raw Dawg reflects this unfiltered energy that has defined his career across blues stages and even a hip-hop detour with Three 6 Mafia.
This year, Gales' rawness has reached new cinematic heights. His guitar work on the Sinners soundtrack 'Elijah', composed by Ludwig Goransson, earned him two Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination. "When it crosses into the cinematic world and has the kind of success this film is having, it's a whole other level," Gales reflects, expressing joy and gratitude for recognition that feels earned after years of dedication.
Goransson, already a fan, initially wanted Gales to appear in the film, but scheduling conflicts led to his inclusion in the score instead. "He asked me to play what I felt, just be myself in each scene," Gales recalls. The impact fully registered during the New York premiere when he heard his guitar within the first five minutes, with approximately 97% of his playing making the final cut.
This instinctual approach extends to his famously upside-down guitar technique, which he adopted from his brother without realizing it was unconventional. "And I didn't want to change it," he asserts, embodying the blues spirit of authenticity.
Performing at Mahindra Blues Fest for the third time, Gales cherishes both the energetic atmosphere and deeper connections. While acknowledging the pain of witnessing poverty, he also recalls lighter moments like arriving with his wife and ZZ Top in traditional white outfits after lost luggage, feeling treated "like kings and queens" in what he describes as a special cultural experience.
DK Harrell: Young People Still Rush to the Stage
At 27, DK Harrell carries a layered lineage tracing back to French settlers in Louisiana and enslaved ancestors. "I'm Black, I'm Creole, I'm a little everything," says the blues singer and guitarist, whose name translates to "little dark prince" and "on top of the mountain of God." He connects his vitiligo to genetic consequences within his family history, now embracing difference as beautiful.
Harrell's blues journey began before literacy, with his mother playing B.B. King's Deuces Wild when he was two years old. "She heard a little voice singing The Thrill Is Gone. That's actually how I started talking," he reveals.
As a formidable young star in the blues resurgence, Harrell navigates the contradiction of youth engaging with a vintage genre. "We actually have more young people in Europe show up than in the US," he observes, recalling a Florida festival where young women rushed the stage during Etta James' I Just Want to Make Love to You, startling an older audience.
His solution blends tradition with contemporary relevance. "I make the music sound old school... but my lyrics are contemporary," he explains, replacing Cadillacs with FaceTime and addressing modern relationship complexities. To sustain the genre, Harrell advocates for strategic collaborations like Beyoncé with Shemekia Copeland or Eric Gales with Drake, emphasizing blues' foundational role in popular music.
Jeff Taylor: Passport Fills at 64
Former high school principal Jeff Taylor, frontman of Altered Five Blues Band, balanced education and music for years before fully committing to blues six years ago. "I told the band right in the beginning, 'school has to come first. I can't miss the prom; I can't miss the school dances.' So, I would go to the school dance and then drive downtown and play music," he recounts.
Now debuting at the blues festival with his Milwaukee quintet, Taylor performs material from their latest album Hammer & Chisel, which broke from their usual practice of testing songs live for six months before recording. The band's collaborative songwriting draws from personal stories, including Taylor's childhood near-drowning experience that inspired their new song 'I Can't Shake It.'
With three Blues Music Award nominations and chart success on Billboard, iTunes, and Amazon Blues Charts, Taylor vividly remembers receiving calls about their album Charmed & Dangerous climbing iTunes charts during school lunch periods. "The students were screaming and calling their parents to say, 'Mr Taylor is on iTunes'... I had never really been anywhere until I was 50, and now, all of a sudden, at 64, my passport is full," he marvels.
Matt Schofield: Following Blues Back to Its Roots
Three-time British Blues Guitarist of the Year Matt Schofield learned early to trace musical influences to their sources. "My father would say, 'If you like Stevie Ray, you gotta listen to Albert King. Because that was his influence'. It seemed important for me to follow the tradition of electric blues guitar all the way back to the beginning," he explains, valuing the depth this approach brings to his own music.
Growing up in Cotswold with cassettes taped from his father's vinyl, Schofield taught himself by listening repeatedly to three B.B. King songs. Decades after his father moved to the US, Schofield followed for musical immersion, planning a move to New Orleans "to really get to the heart of it."
Ironically, Mahindra Blues Fest rather than New Orleans provided his breakthrough moment, jamming with Buddy Guy during the festival's 2011 inaugural edition. "It was one of the highlights of my life. I grew up with his music, and to finally get to jam with him—in India, of all places! I thought it would be in a club in Chicago," he recalls.
While tracing blues to its roots, Schofield credits British blues artists with spreading the genre globally. "It's actually a very important part of the blues history," he notes, highlighting how 1960s British acts like The Rolling Stones and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers introduced white America to what had been segregated "race music."
Shemekia Copeland: Blues as Time Capsules
Shemekia Copeland reads audiences intuitively, never following predetermined set lists. "I feel them out... I like to go with the feel of the audience," says the singer, who has performed twice before in Mumbai and remains pleasantly surprised by Indian interest in blues.
Daughter of bluesman Johnny Copeland, she debuted at New York's Cotton Club at eight and released her first CD at eighteen. Now hailed as "the greatest female blues vocalist working today" with eight Grammy nominations and multiple awards, Copeland views her songs as historical documents. "I always say, I'm making little time pieces of art. So, if the world ended and someone found my record, they would know what was happening at that time," she explains.
Her 2024 album Blame It on Eve, earning three Grammy nominations, addresses women's reproductive rights during a period of intense scrutiny in the US. As political and human rights challenges intensify globally, Copeland sees blues as a natural language for contemporary discourse. "I'm not a preachy person; I like to just talk about what's happening," she states.
Reflecting on her 2018 album America's Child and its song Ain't Got Time for Hate, Copeland observes current societal divisions. "We've stopped loving each other, and instead of seeing how we're all the same, everybody is focused on what's different. In America, we're divided by race and in India, you're divided by religion. We shouldn't let these divide us," she asserts, indicating this theme will focus her next record.
Together, these artists demonstrate how blues maintains its restless energy through cinematic expansion, youth engagement, personal transformation, historical exploration, and social commentary—proving the genre's enduring relevance across generations and borders.
