In 1850, some 300 Black people lived in Chicago, during each of the following decades, that number tripled. By 1930, more than half of the African American population in the United States lived in northern cities and towns. Between 1910 and 1920, over 60,000 black people migrated to Chicago. Out of the 109,000 blacks living in Chicago, 90,000 were migrants, and 20,000 of them were born in Mississippi. Many companies in the North required labor, and offered reasonable compens

The Piedmont region has always had a robust Anglo-American folk tradition, particularly among poor whites living in the Appalachian Mountains. This dominant folk tradition significantly influenced the development of blues music.

There is a long list of Delta Bluesmen: Bukka White, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williams, B.B. King, Little Milton, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Elmore James, and many others who would reshape the Delta style to form the distinctive Chicago style blues.

"Work songs had three primary functions: 1) They helped supply a rhythm of work or synchronized rhythm of movement. 2) They helped to pass the time while performing tedious tasks. 3) They offered an outlet for frustration and anger.