Used to describe predominantly white musicians co-opting blues music from African American. While often applied to artists that emerged in 60s blues-inspired rock (think Clapton, Mayall, etc), it also covers later artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn and modern day blues stars like Jack White.
As a pejorative, it attacks said white boy's cultural appropriation of the blues, particularly when he/she lacks the disadvantaged background "original" bluesmen came from. In the modern context of music criticism, it can also be levied against blues players obsessed with the technical artifice of blues music (skilled solos etc) instead of a broader sense of musicality. The term is used with particular derision against wealthy individuals playing a musical form centred around suffering and catharsis, with the implication that the said individual lacks soul and self-awareness.
In strictly guitar-playing circles, white boy blues is often used as an insult against players obsessed with the Chicago Blues style; particularly Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton. The implication being that such players are either a) playing to themselves in a self-serving manner akin to masturbation, or b) attempting to mirror specific players in a soulless fashion. Again present is a stigma against individuals from wealthier backgrounds, whereby the term "Blues Lawyers" emerges: rich individuals who play the blues (often on pricey equipment) with no self-awareness of sense of irony.
As a pejorative, it attacks said white boy's cultural appropriation of the blues, particularly when he/she lacks the disadvantaged background "original" bluesmen came from. In the modern context of music criticism, it can also be levied against blues players obsessed with the technical artifice of blues music (skilled solos etc) instead of a broader sense of musicality. The term is used with particular derision against wealthy individuals playing a musical form centred around suffering and catharsis, with the implication that the said individual lacks soul and self-awareness.
In strictly guitar-playing circles, white boy blues is often used as an insult against players obsessed with the Chicago Blues style; particularly Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton. The implication being that such players are either a) playing to themselves in a self-serving manner akin to masturbation, or b) attempting to mirror specific players in a soulless fashion. Again present is a stigma against individuals from wealthier backgrounds, whereby the term "Blues Lawyers" emerges: rich individuals who play the blues (often on pricey equipment) with no self-awareness of sense of irony.
by The Goat Of Mendes September 15, 2015