"We need those kids," says Hopkins. "The music masters in the high schools weren't teaching this music for a long time. In the past, this line of music, this blues culture, was not taught or mentioned in school. It's very encouraging to see some young people start to take an interest."
International blues star Trudy Lynn, who regularly performs in Europe, says she has been "totally impressed" with SPA's effort to bring this program into being. She's "overjoyed," she adds, to see herself and her fellow musicians presented in such a prestigious venue.
Jason Wolter
Houston bluesman Texas Johnny Brown is one of the many local legends performing at SPA Houston's "Preserving a Legacy."
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Preserving a Legacy: A Tribute to Houston's Blues
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 29, at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana, Suite 100, 713-227-4772 or www.spahouston.org.
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"Last year when we all got together for that photo shoot for the Houston Press story, with a lot of us there in one room, it got me to thinking about what we'll be losing when the last of that great generation of blues players and singers passes on," Lynn says. "Really, something like this should've been done a long time ago, but better late than never."
Known as Houston's "First Lady of the Blues," Lynn notes that she'll be doing some original material during her portion of the show.
"I lived in Georgia for a while, and over there they seem to always be doing something for their artists," she says, "something to expose them to a wider audience, promote them."
Houston Blues Society president Boyd Bluestein calls the event a "unique, once-in-a-lifetime happening."
"We've worked back and forth with the SPA," he says. The Blues Society has helped underwrite several of the outreach events this month, explains Bluestein, such as the young blues players concert and Sonny Boy Terry's harmonica workshops.
"We're just so happy that this event is happening," he adds. "For those of us who love the blues and want to preserve Houston's blues heritage, to see this music come to the stage at Jones Hall is like a dream. To see it backed by an organization of the caliber of the Society for the Performing Arts is just icing on the cake.
"Now we just need Houston to come out for this historic night and make this a huge success," continues Bluestein, "so it can happen again."
