Chris Thomas King - The Blues Origin Institute

Our friend Chris Thomas King is back on the Break It Down Show with Pete A Turner. Chris is a multi-Grammy winning bluesman from Louisiana. His book The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture reveals the true history of the Blues. The boldest claim is that the Blues were born in New Orleans.

Get The Blues on Amazon at amzn.to/3TT94r6

In March 2023 CTK announced the creation of a new Blues Origin Insititute.

Chris Thomas King Announces ‘The Blues Origin Institute’

Prairieville, LA. March 9, 2023 — Grammy and Country Music Association (CMA) award winner, guitarist, and author Chris Thomas King, son of the late Juke Joint icon Tabby Thomas, has founded The Blues Origin Institute, a new non-profit organization.

The Blues Origin Institute is committed to preserving the authentic history and culture of the blues and continuing its future. “Our mission,” said King, “is to broaden its understanding through research and education with a priority on performance, bringing communities together in celebration. The youth must experience the music and culture for it to continue as a living art form.”

The inspiration to establish The Blues Origin Institute grew from overwhelmingly positive reactions to King’s groundbreaking book The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture published by Chicago Review Press. The well-known blues artist has become an in-demand author. He is in the middle of an extended book tour with recent book talks and lectures at LSU, Xavier, and Nicholls State University.

Over the years, King has actively developed blues programs for Baton Rouge students, mentoring them on performing and the importance of Louisiana music history. One of his youth programs continues at the West Baton Rouge Blues Museum. The Blues Origin Institute hopes to raise the resources necessary to continue such programs.

The Blues Origin Institute has assembled an advisory board including Faulk & Winkler a Baton Rouge-based CPA firm. The mission statement of The Blues Origin Institute reads in part: Contrary to popular myth, the blues did not begin on Mississippi Delta plantations. The original American art form began in Louisiana in the 1890s. Our calling is finally establishing Louisiana as its birthplace and having the world acknowledge it.