Cephas and Wiggins bring the blues to Pittsburgh

‘ ‘ ‘ Every time you hear a new beat or some rhythm that gets your legs moving and your heart… ‘ ‘ ‘ Every time you hear a new beat or some rhythm that gets your legs moving and your heart pumping, think twice about where it came from. The rhythms, beats and melodies that we love so much in rock, rap and R’amp;B are rip-offs.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The artists borrowed them from the blues,’ said Phil Smith, board member of Calliope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of traditional and contemporary folk music. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Blues underlies everything that comes after blues ‘mdash; jazz, rock, rap, soul. Blues gets quoted all the time by other artists, but blues continues as its own tradition.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The acoustic guitar of ‘Bowling Green’ John Cephas and Phil Wiggins’ soul harmonica carry on that tradition. This longtime duo will be coming to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 7:00, and thanks to Pitt Arts, you don’t even need to pay for it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The duo specializes in piedmont blues, the kind that you imagine two guys who hitch a ride on a train heading north would play, picking at their guitar and playing their harmonica along the way. Cephas is on guitar, thumbing the bass notes and picking on the higher ones. The sound is sharp and focused, bringing attention to his words when he sings.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Wiggins joins in on the harmonica. The tone changes depending on the song. Sometimes his harmonica wails the pain of black history, while other times he celebrates the joy of music. Either way, their music is part of the historical continuum of blues. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘If you can imagine,’ said Cephas, ‘I grew up in a segregated society.” ‘ ‘ ‘ No concert halls for black people, no water fountain, no restaurants, no vote. ‘ ‘ ‘ Born in 1930, Cephas lived through a time when black men and white men were unable to join in a concert hall to listen to music. The blues is the story of that discrimination.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Folks needed something where they could express themselves,’ says Cephas. ‘They needed some form of entertainment. So what would they do at the end of the week? They would sit together and listen to the blues and dance, and sing and dance.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The blues finds its history woven into the fabric of other music styles, although it has a solid story of its own.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Blues is the great music that was most commonly associated with a farmer,’ said Smith. ‘White people played the blues, too, and especially in the South there is a tradition of the two infecting each other. Whites played black blues, and blacks played white blues.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Blues might be the story of the American people, but Cephas argues that everyone has to find some music to connect with. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Every person, every soul in the world should have some sort of relationship with music. I don’t just mean blues, but I mean any form of music. Now, they should listen to all forms of music,’ added Cephas, ‘especially the blues.’