Join us at Newton Public Library for a Kansas Author Talk with Patrick Joseph O'Connor. His new book, "Wichita Blues: Music in the African American Community," is based on 25 years of interviews with Wichita blues musicians. It was named a 2025 Kansas Notable Book.
This is a hybrid program: Attend in person at Newton Public Library, 223 E. 7th, Newton, KS, or click here to sign up for the Zoom Webinar simulcast:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GR_GsXaHQVOD_IV0LX6DUQ#/registration. Patrick will join us in person.
About the Book:
In conversations on regional blues, the traditions of the Mississippi Delta, the Carolina Piedmont, Chicago, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, and Los Angeles are frequently lauded. But until now, little attention has been paid to the Midwest, despite the presence and popularity of blues in these heartland communities. "Wichita Blues: Music in the African American Community" seeks to address this gap in music history by exploring the lively Wichita blues tradition. In interviews with nineteen African American Wichita blues performers, author Patrick Joseph O’Connor reveals the evolution of the blues from the 1930s to the 1960s and beyond.
Utilizing 25 years of fieldwork, "Wichita Blues" details the history of performance and camaraderie among the musicians of this often-neglected regional sound. The personal interviews offer unique insight into topics that shape Wichita’s sound, including how migration from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas brought varied artists to the area and the ways musical traditions cross racial divides and generations. The artists articulate the poetics of the blues and the diverse regional influences that can be detected in their music. In exploring the Wichita blues tradition, O’Connor traces African American history in Kansas, ranging from the Exoduster movement in the late nineteenth century and minstrel shows across the state to Black cowboys and growing urban African American communities in Topeka and Wichita.
About the Author:
Patrick Joseph O'Connor has been an active blues musician and researcher since the late 1960s. He is a former lecturer in the blues for Wichita State University's Department of Anthropology, and his research has been published in several academic journals.
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