#RMF2020: Blue On Black

 

 Day 31 of #RocktoberMusicFest2020


The Song choice for today: Blue On Black
Artist: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Year Representing: 1998


Wikipedia tells us this about the song:

"Blue on Black" is a song by American blues rock band Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. Written by Shepherd with songwriters Mark Selby and Tia Sillers; Noah Hunt provides the lead vocal. The song was originally released on their second studio album, Trouble Is... (1997). On April 7, 1998, it was released as a single and spent 42 weeks on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and rose to number one, remaining there for six non-consecutive weeks. In 2019, Shepherd teamed up with American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch, along with country singer Brantley Gilbert and Queen guitarist Brian May for a reworked version of "Blue on Black".

"Blue on Black" was regarded as the best rock song of 1998 by various media, including winning the Billboard Music Award for Rock Track of the Year and the song's popularity helped make Trouble Is... the 1999 Blues Album of the Year in Billboard. The song continues to be a top download of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd catalog, ranking at number one on Rhapsody. It is also his most-listened to song on Spotify with over 13 million streams.

In an August 2017 interview, Shepherd discussed the song's origins:

We wrote that when we were down in New Orleans – me, Mark and Tia. I had the music, and Mark and I were just rolling with the music and tried to develop things up. Tia came up with this idea based on a shirt that I was wearing that was blue and black. She noticed the two colors that were dominant on my shirt, and if you mix those two colors together, black consumes the blue. It doesn't amount to anything if you put the two together: You still have one color, instead of creating a new color. So she built on that idea, and it became this really deep song. It's really up to the listener to determine how they apply it. So many people have applied it to a death in the family, an abusive relationship, a broken relationship, or whatever. There are so many different ways. That's what's beautiful about music and lyrics is trying to write a song that the listener can apply to their own experience in whatever way seems fit. And that's one of those songs.

Thank you for joining me in celebrating Rock Music this month! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a wrap up of #RMF2020 fun!

Did you enjoy this celebration? Will you join me again next year?