{ Note: intended audience is high school age and younger with teachers and parents participating in the conversation. }

Today I’m going to talk about the history of a kind of music, what’s called a “genre,” and that genre “the blues.” You may or may not have heard about the blues before, but that doesn’t matter, because the way I’m going to talk about the blues won’t require you to know anything about it to understand what I’m saying.

What I’m going to do is take facts about myself, and then see if they are somehow related to the story of the history of the blues. As we go along, we’ll write our own Blues story, mix our histories together, and make it easier to remember. How’s that sound? Should we get started?

One thing you can know about me is my last name is “Hale.” Now where does than name come from? It turns out there’s something of a debate about that, but it’s pretty accepted the name comes from somewhere in the British Isles. Do you know where that is? Can you name some of the British Isles?

My cousin did a DNA test with Ancestry.com. Do you know what a DNA test is? The test revealed a big part of our family tree came from Scotland. In fact we are descended from a very famous Scotsman, a man named Robert the Bruce. Robert was king of Scotland from 1306 to his death in 1329.

Obviously, since I’m here, with a name from the British Isles, that means I have ancestors that came from the British Isles to the Americas. One thing about my Scottish ancestors, and others from the British Isles, is that when they moved to where we live, they brought their music with them. There were actually several different genres of music they brought with them. For example, they brought European classical music like Mozart and Beethoven. But they also brought a music played by the people in the towns, villages, and in the country. This genre of music is called Folk Music, and in the case of the British Isles, the oldest folk music was called Celtic Folk Music. Have you ever heard the word “Celtic” before? Do you know what it stands for?

Another thing there is to know about me is that I have had blood clots in my left calf. Do you know what a blood clot is? It’s kind of a scary thing. Actually, a piece of a blood clot broke off and got caught in my lung. Can you imagine why that happened? When that happens, it has a fancy name called a pulmonary embolism, and for me, it was caused by something else with a fancy name, called protein C deficiency. This is what is known as a blood clotting disorder. All of this is pretty complicated isn’t it?

One thing there is to know about protein C deficiency is that it is something common among the people of west Africa. I don’t know, but it is. And this is the area of Africa where a long time ago people from Europe and America took people from Africa to be slaves. You probably have heard about slavery, and why it’s not allowed any more, right?

The slaves were kept mostly in the south, in states like Texas. Guess what? My grandparents on my father’s side were from Texas. Now a thing that gets me wondering is that protein C deficiency, this thing that caused my blood clots, is hereditary. Do you know what that means?

As a matter of fact, my dad had a blood clot in his leg and in his lungs too. So, being a curious person, I have to wonder, is it possible the protein C deficiency I inherited from my family, which came from Texas, originally came from someone from west Africa? What do you think?

The truth is people from all over the world have protein C deficiency, including those from the British Isles, so how do we know where my protein C deficiency came from? Do you know of a way we could find out? Have you heard of DNA?

Maybe someday I’ll have my DNA tested, but for now I prefer to leave it a mystery. That makes a better story, don’t you think?

The genres of music born in our part of the world, blues, jazz, and rock-n-roll, all came from the same place. It was the mixing up of music, drumming, and singing of the people of the British Isles and the people of West Africa. It took the song structure from places like Ireland, and combined it with the rhythms, and call and response traditions of the people of west Africa. You see there was a time when both these people were put together, people from Ireland were indentured servants, and folks from west Africa were slaves.  When they weren’t forced to work by their masters, what precious little free time they had, they would get together and combine the things they did to help each other feel better. To the master this new music was just as if it was plain ol’ music. He had no idea they were making up songs about him behind his back, saying what a mean ol’ master he was. This music, people made about their hard lives, was the beginning of the blues. Have you heard of the blues before? Would you like to hear some of the blues people made at the very beginning?

Now I just thought of something funny. We’ve talked about me having Irish, British Isle in me. We’ve talked about me having west African in me. These things came together to make the blues. Does that mean I’ve go the blues in me? Let’s find out.

One other thing there is to know about me is that my great grandmother on my mother’s side was a quarter Cherokee. Do you know who the Cherokee people are? Do you know where they came from? My great grandmother came from North Carolina, so it makes sense that she was part Cherokee, huh?

So now we have all the parts of why I am… The Irishman, The African, and The Indian. Three different people in one person, isn’t that fun? I say it’s three times the fun!!! How many people do you think are inside of you?

The last thing I want to do is introduce you to a song and a man that are very dear to my heart. This song, and this man, have taught me many things I’ve needed to know. It’s pretty hard to describe. I think it’s better to just learn how to play or sing the song, or just listen to it. That’s how I learned what the song meant to me, and I think you can learn what it means doing it this way too. So are you ready to learn the song? The name of the song is “Witchi Tai To,” written by a man I consider to be a great teacher to me, Jim Pepper, a Native American man from Parkrose, Oregon. Jim Pepper wrote many wondrous songs, but this one in particular makes me feel especially good, and a I think it will make you feel good too. Does music make you feel good? Do you want to learn a song the especially makes you feel good? OK, we’ll end out time together today by doing just that!!!