Delta blues is one of the earliest and most influential styles of the blues, which arose in the early 20th century in the region of the Mississippi River delta in the southern USA. It is rootsy, deeply personal, and emotionally raw music.
Classic Delta blues is above all the singing of a soloist to their own accompaniment on the acoustic guitar. Its recognisable feature is the slide guitar, where the musician runs a smooth object (a bottleneck or a metal tube) along the strings, drawing out a characteristic “weeping,” gliding sound. The vocal is usually passionate, anguished, full of pain and feeling. Legendary figures of the genre became Robert Johnson, Son House, and Charley Patton. Delta blues became the root from which Chicago blues, rhythm and blues, and rock music later grew.
