JV: There’s a novelty to McKinley as a young person in the 21st century connecting so deeply with music from almost 100 years ago. What do you think blues has to teach young people of today?

BK: There’s a dialogue in the book about the changing lyrical content of blues music. Times change, the subject matter can change, but the feeling of the blues persists through generations. And the way things are going now for young people, I feel like blues is ever-present. A lot of modern pop music is about feeling blue, just delivered without guitar and slide. But capital B Blues is always meant to be delivered raw. Perhaps pop tastes will come back around to the rawer authenticity of blues versus factory-made sounds, but probably not. I’m not gonna worry about that. Blues works for me. I’m here for pretty much anything guitar-based. And there are great contemporary blues artists, like Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, who I’ve seen a few times including in Clarksdale and at the Ardmore Music Hall for WXPN’s Free at Noon series in 2022. There are also plenty of indie rock bands now that cite blues influence, even if it doesn’t always manifest in their sound. So it’s still around.

JV: Speaking of youth, I was wondering how you view this book genre-wise. Music fiction or rock fiction, for sure. But do you also see it working as a YA novel? I could see it functioning that sense with our protagonist as a teen who is on a creative journey where the height of the stakes is will-he-get-grounded-or-not.

BK: Absolutely. It’s a coming of age tale with musical devices. I look at it as a modern Catcher in the Rye but steeped in blues. A rock and roll Catcher in the Rye. Not saying it’s as good, but it’s Catcher in the Rye in that McKinley is a young punk you can root for, who doesn’t always do the right thing, gets into some trouble, but above all is pursuing his passion. Everything else just gets in his way. Now while I don’t advocate skipping class, I hope young readers would get inspired by his passion and dedication. And there are life lessons from the blues in there for McKinley, such as just because he’s pursuing music doesn’t mean he needs to go and pick up a drug or alcohol habit. There are adult themes and language but it’s not so R-rated that teenagers couldn’t read it, and it’s not PG-rated either. I hope that aspiring musicians read it, and blues fans and music fans in general. And yet it’s not exclusive about music either. Apart from elevating the blues, it’s about family, the bonds of brotherhood, dedication to craft, and pursuing passions, among other flavors.

JV: Towards the end of the book, Fred and McKinley have a conversation about staying in Clarksdale versus moving to Chicago. “I’ve seen a lot of good players stick around, and play my club, and all the other clubs, and that’s it. It’s fine playing the Cosmo Club all your life. But you’re young, you can still dream.” It’s something every musician goes through: localism versus chasing the big time. Is there a side of the fence you come down on? Is it possible to do both?

BK: Ideally, you get to do both. And first, I hope that line doesn’t come off as dismissive to anyone particularly in Clarksdale that sticks around and plays local clubs, because that in itself is a wonderful thing. It’s just presented as one perspective for McKinley to consider. At McKinley’s age, I definitely was learning that there is a whole big world out there that I needed to explore. So I’m a person that would say, go chase. Not necessarily chase the big time, which suggests selling out. But go chase life. Then by leaving home and exploring, meeting people, you discover the fullness of who you are and where you’re from, and all that. That’s also one reason why McKinley’s uncle Ira starts him with classic Delta blues instruction. Ira’s arming him with where he comes from, for where he might go next.

JV: Last, I wanted to ask about the title, Sensation Blues. It seems to me a spin on the fact that McKinley is a prodigy at his instrument, a blues sensation so to speak. But by inverting it into Sensation Blues, it gives it an almost beat poetry vibe, where it’s a yearning ode to feelings and experience. What does that phrase Sensation Blues mean to you?

BK: Yeah, you nailed it. I love how blues subverts sensation in the title. It took me a while to land on it, but Sensation Blues trounced several other working titles when I arrived at it. It delivers a lot of feelings. Such as, however good McKinley gets at guitar by the end of this one, he’s obviously no phenom or sensation yet. He’s just a kid playing on street corners. So I like the irony of tagging him as a “sensation” when he’s not one yet. It also teases at his youthful bluster a little bit. Then “blues,” of course he’s playing blues, but he has some blues of his own. He can be sensational at guitar, but he still has to answer to mom and dad, answer to Vice Principal Sumners. So I gravitate to the yin-yang effect in those two words of the title, and they’re both open to a yearning, romantic interpretation as you noted. It’s good for a title or a band name to have multiple interpretations.

Lastly, while there is an old blues song called “Sensation Blues,” I discovered that after the fact and instead source mine to Freddie King’s bluesy instrumental, “Sen-Sa-Shun.” I was going with just that for a bit, and then “Sen-Sa-Shun Blues,” before landing on the final spelling, clearest and easiest to handle. Landing there was an epiphany and felt just right, for all the reasons stated above. I’d been seeking those feelings in a title.

Sensation Blues is out now, and can be ordered here; it is also available in person at Spina Records in New Brunswick, Catalyst Records in NYC’s East Village, and this Saturday, at a book signing and author event at Repo Records from 2 to 5 p.m. Details and information can be found here. Below, dive into a companion playlist Kelly created for readers of the book to hear the songs that inspired it.

Marian Hill: Full Set (Recorded Live for The Key Studio Sessions)