DJ Tip #1: Know Your Shit

As a blues DJ, you WILL get asked "what makes a song a blues song?" You will have people tell you if you are or aren't playing blues. You will have people request "could you please play more blues." As a blues DJ, you sure as hell better know what blues is. If you're unsure, or need a refresher, here are a few suggestions on how to learn more about blues:

• Understand blues history. Go back to the roots of the music. Spend time reading books from the library about blues history, or biographies of some of the first blues musicians. You can find out who some of the first blues musicians are by looking up blues history. Seriously, just google "blues history." It's more entertaining than you might think. Videos like this are the fun part.
  
• Listen to as many different blues artists as possible. Again, you will get this information by reading about blues. Once you have a good list of artists from your reading, go to a used CD store, or the library, and get blues music to listen to. This is also a good time to make it out to as many blues venues as possible (including live blues, if it's available), and listen to as many different DJs as you can.
  
• Know what is not blues, but is commonly played at blues dances: jazz, trip-hop, gospel, soul, R&B, sometimes electronica, hip-hop, and classic rock. Know the differences when you hear them. You may not be able to describe the difference of genres in words, but you should know them when you them.
  

I'll talk about these things in more detail later, but I wanted to give you advice on how you can get started, without my biased report on what I think is the coolest thing to read about (like the cross roads, traveling blues wagons, and slave songs). Good luck, and have fun!