Country Blues · Genres
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What is country blues?

Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. After blues' birth in the southern United States, it quickly spread throughout the country (and elsewhere), giving birth to a host of regional styles.

About country blues

These include Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, Texas, Piedmont, Louisiana, West Coast, Atlanta, St. Louis, East Coast, Swamp, New Orleans, Delta and Kansas City blues.

From Last.fm, where 1,448 listeners have tagged music as country blues.

Artists to start with

  1. Henry Thomas
  2. Blind Willie McTell
  3. Son House
  4. Rev. Gary Davis
  5. Blind Lemon Jefferson
  6. Charley Patton
  7. Washington Phillips
  8. Mississippi Sheiks
  9. Sleepy John Estes
  10. John Jackson

Albums to hear first

  • The Complete Recordings by Robert JohnsonThe Complete RecordingsRobert Johnson
  • Freight Train And Other North Carolina Folk Songs And Tunes by Elizabeth CottenFreight Train And Other North Carolina Folk Songs And TunesElizabeth Cotten
  • 1928 Sessions by Mississippi John Hurt1928 SessionsMississippi John Hurt
  • The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites by John FaheyThe Dance of Death & Other Plantation FavoritesJohn Fahey
  • In the Night by Charley CrockettIn the NightCharley Crockett
  • Country Blues by Lightnin' HopkinsCountry BluesLightnin' Hopkins
  • Maria Muldaur by Maria MuldaurMaria MuldaurMaria Muldaur
  • Pottery Pie by Geoff & Maria MuldaurPottery PieGeoff & Maria Muldaur

Country Blues songs

  1. Wildfire by John Mayer
  2. Your Own Sweet Way by The Notting Hillbillies
  3. Sitting On Top of the World by Mississippi Sheiks
  4. Death Don't Have No Mercy by Rev. Gary Davis
  5. The World Is Going Wrong by Mississippi Sheiks
  6. Here Comes the Cowboy by Mac DeMarco
  7. Preachin' Blues by Son House
  8. Burn, Burn, Burn by Zach Bryan
  9. West Coast Blues by Blind Blake
  10. Stealin' Stealin' by Memphis Jug Band

Country Blues on Risocast

  • Ufo's Their Size and Power Source by Frank EdwardsUfo's Their Size and Power SourceFrank Edwards · 2013

Neighbouring genres

In the jazz & blues family. All genres

bluescool jazzbossa novaacid jazzblues rockbebopavant-garde jazzdelta blueschicago bluesdark jazzdesert bluesjazz punk

Questions

What is country blues?
Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. After blues' birth in the southern United States, it quickly spread throughout the country (and elsewhere), giving birth to a host of regional styles. These include Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, Texas, Piedmont, Louisiana, West Coast, Atlanta, St.
Who are the best-known country blues artists?
By Last.fm listening: Henry Thomas, Blind Willie McTell, Son House, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton.
What genres are similar to country blues?
On Risocast it sits with blues, cool jazz, bossa nova, acid jazz, blues rock and bebop.

Risocast is free. Install it once and it logs everything you play.

Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.11Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm

Updated 7 October 2026

Welcome to Risocast
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Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.11Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm

On Android: download the app (APK, v4.0.4).

How it works

Play music the way you already do. On Windows, Risocast notices whatever you're playing, in Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, your browser or foobar2000, with nothing to set up.

On Android the app does the same for any music app. Anywhere else, connect Spotify or Last.fm.

When a song countsAfter half its length, or four minutes, whichever comes first.Very short tracks are left out.Songs you play offline are added when you're back online.

More on automatic logging · Risocast vs Last.fm

Taste twins

See how much your taste overlaps with anyone's, and find the people who listen most like you. The match comes from what you both actually play, not a list of favourites.

Open People

How the match works

Weekly Disc and Taste Map

Every week becomes a disc of your top songs. Every record you play goes on a map, grouped by genre.

Weekly DiscTaste Map

Real ones, from the maker's own listening.

Download Risocast

Risocast is free for Windows 10 and 11 and for Android. On any other device, use the web app with Spotify or Last.fm.

Download for WindowsFree · v4.0.11Open RisocastRight here · Spotify or Last.fm
  • Version 4.0.11 · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · about 100 MB
  • Updates itself: new versions download in the background and install on restart.
  • On Android: download the app (APK, v4.0.4).
  • Every installer is published with its SHA-256 checksum on the releases page.

All platforms and questions

Risocast Help

A music diary that writes itself, and a place to find people who love the music you love. Play music anywhere (Spotify, YouTube, your phone) and Risocast remembers every song. Each week it presses your listening onto a Weekly Disc you can share, and it introduces you to your taste twins: people whose music matches yours. Free, no ads, and it looks like Windows 98.

The people whose music matches yours most. Risocast compares what you actually play, not a list of favourites, and shows how much your taste overlaps with anyone's, so you can find them, see what they're playing and say hello.

Your week in music, pressed onto a CD: a ring for each song you played most, coloured from its cover. It's made fresh every week, to keep or share.

Yes. Risocast is free, with no ads, and nothing you play is ever sold.

Almost certainly. Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, music in your browser and nearly any app on your Windows PC or Android phone are remembered on their own. A few desktop players (VLC, iTunes, MusicBee) need a free add-on first. You can also connect Spotify, or bring your history over from Last.fm.

It keeps the same kind of diary of everything you play, without setting anything up for each app, and it's built around something Last.fm isn't: finding the people who love the music you love.

Your profile is public so people with your taste can find you, unless you make it private (then only your buddies see it). Your email never is. Nothing is sold and there are no ads; anonymous usage analytics (Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics) show us what to improve. The privacy policy has the details.

Yes. Songs you play offline are remembered on your device and added when you're back online.

Once you've heard half of it, or four minutes, whichever comes first. Very short tracks (30 seconds or less) and long videos or podcasts (over 20 minutes) are left out, so your top songs stay songs.

More in Help, the guides and the privacy policy.

Features
Automatic loggingWeekly DiscTaste MapTaste matchProfiles and statsMusic windowsBPM, key and soundSong stripLikes that syncPlay in your appFindPeople and buddiesCompare tasteAnthemsGenre labelsAndroid appImport and connectWindows 98 lookAndroid widgets
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Guides
Track music on WindowsLog YouTube MusicApple Music statsFind people like youPlayers that workLog VLCLog foobar2000Log MusicBeeiTunes on WindowsLog DeezerLog TidalLog SoundCloudAmazon MusicWindows Media PlayerSpotify historyTop songs of all timeWhat genre is it?Describe your tasteExport your dataComing from Last.fmWidget for every appPC music from your phoneWindows 98 home screen
23 object(s)Open as a list
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