INDIANOLA, MS ‒ On the stage at Club Ebony in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, blues artist Alphonso Sanders sings an original song called “Delta Sun,” dedicated to life in a hot and challenging region.

Sanders, 70, is one of several local bluesmen who have performed for decades in the famed Black nightclub in the sleepy town of Indianola. They carry a legacy that sprang from the fertile cotton fields and shaped American music as we know it today.

“Some say they like the blues, but I think they just like the fame,” Sanders belts out. “Because every time I try to give away my blues … nobody wants to share my pain.”

It’s hard to know exactly when or where the blues took shape as an American music form. There are only sparse written accounts, from a time before recording equipment could

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