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Staging the Blues: The Ma Rainey Story
Hold That Thought
English - January 26, 2017 16:58 - 12 minutes - 17.9 MB - ★★★★ - 12 ratingsSocial Sciences Science Natural Sciences washington university education educational hold that thought higher arts sciences Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Before film or even audio recordings, audiences across the south flocked to traveling tent shows for entertainment. Under these tents, female performers like Gertrude "Ma" Rainey helped invent and popularize a new type of music: the blues. Paige McGinley, author of Staging the Blues: From Tent Shows to Tourism, brings these elaborate performances to life and explains why they are so often forgotten.