NEW YORK (AP) — For Buddy Man — a stalwart and staunch defender of the blues — there’s nothing extra vital than holding his chosen style on the forefront of dialog. It comes naturally: Man is one among America’s biggest guitar gamers, a singular artist with a thick roster of A-list tremendous followers — Eric Clapton, Jimmy Web page and Gary Clark Jr. amongst them.
The record additionally consists of modern author and director Ryan Coogler, who tapped Man for his critically acclaimed movie “Sinners” earlier this 12 months, and artists like Peter Frampton and the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, who characteristic on his new album “Ain’t Done with the Blues.” It releases Wednesday, on Man’s 89th birthday.
For the eight-time Grammy Award-winning musician, these recognitions aren’t precedence. The longevity of the music that made his life is his main concern. “Like I promised B.B. King, Muddy Waters and all of them,” he tells The Related Press over the cellphone, “I do the best I can to keep the blues alive.”
He is involved that radio stations not play the blues, and that the style may miss out on connecting with youthful listeners. It is one of many causes “Ain’t Done with the Blues” is a robust assortment of classics that run the chance of being forgotten — like on the album nearer “Talk to Your Daughter,” a rendition of the J.B. Lenoir tune.
In Man’s efficiency, there’s an plain universality. “Blues is based on everyday life,” he says. “A good time or a bad time.”
Or, one other method Man explains it: “Music is like a bowl of real good gumbo. They got all kinds of meat in there. You got chicken in there, you got sausage in there. You got a seafood in it. … When we play music, we put everything in there.”
It is resonating. In its 2025 midyear report, Luminate, an business knowledge and analytics firm, discovered that U.S. on-demand audio streams of blues music has climbed this 12 months because of the success of “Sinners.”
Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vp of music insights and business relations, describes the present second as a “resurgence of the blues,” following “Sinners.”
“Several artists featured on the film’s soundtrack, which includes works from real-life blues, folk and country musicians, saw spikes the week of the film’s theatrical release,” he explains. “And they’re all enjoying a sustained rise in listenership even two-plus months following release.”
Man has seen the shift, too. “I walk in the grocery store or the drugstore and people recognize me. ‘Man, you know, I heard that ’Sinners’ music, man. Man, it sounds good,’” he says. “They ain’t never gonna come in and say, ‘I heard it on the radio.’”
That is a part of the explanation why Man determined to take part within the film within the first place. “I hope this will give the blues a boost, because my worry right now is, like I said, a young person don’t know how good a gumbo is — you’ve got to taste it.”
For now, he is excited to see how folks reply to his new album, “Ain’t Done with the Blues” — however he is not listening to it.
“I listen to everything but Buddy Guy,” he says. “I already know Buddy Guy. I can’t learn anything from that.”
