Contemporary Blues
tagStarted late 1970sPeak 1985–2005Last big hit still active
Contemporary blues keeps blues structures and vocal phrasing but adds slicker production, broader harmony, tighter radio-era arrangements, and borrowings from soul, pop, funk, roots rock, or Americana. Guitar remains central, yet the texture is often cleaner and more polished than raw postwar electric blues.
History
As the 1980s blues revival matured, a newer mainstream lane emerged around artists who respected blues form without treating 1955 as a prison sentence. The Blues Foundation’s separate contemporary category reflects exactly that expansion: Robert Cray, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, and later Christone “Kingfish” Ingram modernized lyrics, groove, and production while keeping the blues frame plainly audible.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Britannica on electric-blues pioneers
- Chess Records history
- The Blues Foundation on traditional and contemporary blues categories.