Jubilation! Listening Room Series

Nobody Knows My Trouble: The Blues and the Journey Toward Freedom

The blues gave voice to everyday life. Emerging after Emancipation, blues music expressed love, hardship, labor, injustice, humor, resilience, and aspiration. Drawing upon African musical traditions while reflecting new social realities, the blues transformed deeply personal experiences into universal expressions of humanity. This session explores how the blues became both a musical language and a philosophy of survival that continues to shape American culture.

Facilitator: Michael Jones is an award-winning author. His books include “Second-Hand Stories: 15 Portraits of Louisville” (Weeping Buddha Press, 2006), “Louisville Jug Music: From Earl McDonald to the National Jubilee” (History Press, 2014), and “The Soulful Sounds of Derbytown” (Butler Books, 2024), a history of African American music in Louisville that he executive edited and co-authored. “Louisville Jug Music” and “The Soulful Sounds of
Derbytown” won the Samuel Thomas Book Award from the Louisville Historical League in 2014 and 2024. “The Soulful Sounds of Derbytown,” for which Jones served as contributor and executive editor, also won two 2025 Independent Publisher Book Awards.