A wall of historic Alabama blues posters covers an entire wall inside the Project’s headquarters.

Alabama has a rich blues tradition and the Alabama Blues Project is dedicated to telling the world about it. Debbie Bond, a talented blues guitarist in her own right, fell in love with the Birmingham area and its music scene years ago when she came to Alabama from her native England. Today, she still tours with blues luminaries while running The Alabama Blues Project with her musician husband and a small staff of people as dedicated as she is. Their headquarters is in Debbie’s former home, a charming wooden cottage in Northport, across from a former train station where traveling blues artists used to hop trains and travel from town to town.

There’s no mistaking that this is no ordinary house with its colorful posters, murals and art installations created by friends of the Project and the children who attend their Summertime Blues Camps. During these camps, kids (many from underprivileged backgrounds) learn the history of Alabama blues. They also receive instruction in becoming blues musicians themselves, whether their talents lie in singing, songwriting, guitar, drums or other instruments. Several are already on their way to promising musical careers.

Debbie Bond, founder of the Alabama Blues Project, plays some blues guitar for her husband and one of her young protegees.

In addition to the camps, the Project also does Artist Residence programs in Alabama schools teaching many art forms to children, all with a blues focus. They also learn of the state’s rich blues history with the hope that they will be inspired to carry it on in their own individual ways.

Debbie collects and preserves Alabama blues memorabilia, while continually researching the blues history of her adopted home. Grammy award winner Dinah Washington is from Tuscaloosa and was known as the Queen of the Blues. Among other famed blues artists, Alabama was also home to Big Mama Thornton and W.C. Handy, known as the father of the blues.

Thanks to The Alabama Blues Project, the blues (which according to Debbie is happy music because it offers people a way to work through life’s problems) has a respected past, along with a promising future.