In and around 1940, gifted black, Southern bluesman were immigrating to the "Windy City" on the shores of Lake Michigan. There in small clubs and crowded living rooms and on street corners, they created the Chicago Blues--a unique American art form that changed American popular music forever.

Not two miles from Maxwell and Clark Streets, the center of that thriving Black community, is Grant Park, the site of the 16th annual Chicago Blues Festival held June 4 through 6. That hot weekend tens of thousands of music fans from around the world gathered to kick off the summer and celebrate their living heritage.

To see the action from this year's Chicago Blues Festival, be sure to check out our three photo galleries.

That same weekend, tens of thousands of music fans also gathered at the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Hard Rock Rockfest to celebrate modern incarnations of those early Southern, black performers. There mostly young white musicians played rock an roll--the most recent evolutionary step in the progress of the blues.

Happily, Gibson Musical Instruments was proud to cosponsor both these events. Each kicks off the Summer season of tours and festivals. Check out our Feature Presentation, "Rockin' Hard at Rockfest" and be at Rockfest. Also check in with DigitalBoy at CybeRiffs for information and links to the virtual Summer festival season including rock, jazz, bluegrass, and the blues, of course.