What does bluesman mean?
Bluesman is a noun for a musician, especially a guitarist or singer, who performs blues music. Although the word is masculine in form and has been used chiefly for male performers, it is also encountered in British and American English beyond the United States, where blues developed from African American musical traditions. In modern usage, a bluesman need not be limited to a particular instrument: the term can designate any performer whose repertoire and style belong to the blues. It carries no necessary negative connotation, although describing someone as "a bluesman" can suggest a traditional sound, a career rooted in blues performance, or an association with the genre’s history. For a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant, "blues musician" or "blues player" is more neutral wording. Bluesman is therefore particularly useful when the performer’s identity as a blues artist is central.
nounA male musician who plays or sings blues music, especially as a guitarist or singer.
- A male musician who plays or sings blues music.
"The venue has welcomed legendary bluesmen from several generations."
"B.B. King was a bluesman who reshaped the sound of American music."
"He learned guitar from an experienced bluesman who performed throughout the Delta."
The standard plural of bluesman.
"The concert brought together bluesmen from the Delta, Chicago, and Memphis."
A bluesman does not merely feel blue; he performs the blues.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does bluesman come from?
Bluesman was formed in English by combining blues with man, following the ordinary English pattern of identifying a person by an occupation or field. Blues arose in American English for feelings of melancholy, from blue in expressions such as "the blues" and "blue devils," and the word also came to denote the musical style in the nineteenth century. The compound likewise follows a productive pattern represented by occupational words such as craftsman.
Related word forms
How bluesman is actually used
The term is neutral to mildly informal and is used in both British and American English, although it is especially associated with the American blues tradition. Although traditionally masculine and applicable to instrumentalists as well as singers, it is less suitable when a gender-neutral term is needed; "blues musician" or "blues player" is preferable in that context.