(Reviewed by Don Jung)
“Audiences like their blues singers to be miserable,” said Janis Joplin. Sins in Blue is a story of an unhappy bluesman who is rediscovered by a young college student trying to revive his career.
Willie Johnson is a poor white blues guitarist who grew up during the Depression and lives with regrets from long ago. Into his life comes a teenage kid from Pittsburgh named Kennedy who is infatuated with the blues. He hears a 1930s recording of Willie and decides to go to Fort Collins, Colorado, to become his manager and persuade him to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. While their age differences clash, they start questioning each other’s dreams and regrets.
The story shifts back and forth between the Depression-era that the bluesman grew up in, to the current 1969, with the change in American values on race and music. The days of prohibition are long gone but the author provides visual stories of how difficult it was to pursue a musical career during that time. I was also fascinated with learning about racial tensions at nightclubs. Remember, this was before the recording industry took off.
The author also makes you care for the two characters. The conversations are
heartwarming and yet heartbreaking. It’s like your long-lost cousin comes into town and
you start out painting a rosy picture that soon turns into faded.
I was completely absorbed throughout the entire book. This is not only because it is well-written, but also because it accentuates the cultural differences throughout history.
