Blues In My DNA [Vinyl LP]

There’s no hiding the pride beaming from Ronnie Baker Brooks’ face on the cover of Blues In My DNA, his fifth career album but his first for Alligator Records. You can see his satisfaction at being pictured on the lakefront of Chicago, the city where he was introduced to the blues as a child. Ronnie is even playing the same guitar his father Lonnie Brooks cradled (and shot lightning bolts from!) on the cover of Bayou Lightning, Lonnie’s 1979 Alligator debut.

The full circle moment is one Ronnie has been working toward his entire life. Blues In My DNA confirms Ronnie’s status as a premier Chicago bluesman whose songwriting speaks directly to the current moment, but whose influences—like those of his father—span Memphis soul, rock ‘n’ roll, funk, and hard-charging Chicago blues. Joining Alligator means being on a label originally defined by artists of his father’s generation—Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, and of course Lonnie himself—who also served as direct mentors to Ronnie since he was old enough to hold a guitar.

He always knew that becoming an Alligator artist would not just be a way to honor his family legacy, but to also do something even more profound—to serve as a bridge to the next generation by reaching a larger audience. “If I can be a link to the chain that inspires someone to love the music that has been so good to me and so healing for me, then my mission is accomplished,” he says.

Like most people, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a reset to Ronnie’s life and career. Until then, he had paved his own way as both a road warrior and independent label operator, having established a global audience through tours that took him around the world, and three critically-acclaimed albums issued on his own Watchdog Records. “I started with a mailing list that came from my shows. I would physically mail fans notifications about when a new record was coming out and they would buy them. Then I took that money and flipped it and back into the next record,” he remembers.

After the release of Times Have Changed, an acclaimed album on the Provogue label recorded in Memphis with producer-drummer Steve Jordan (The Rolling Stones), the album title proved prophetic. Lonnie Brooks died not long after the album’s release. Then came the pandemic. Touring, the lifeblood for Ronnie’s family, braked indefinitely. Life as he knew it was suddenly uncertain. “It was scary. It was the first time I had to go through a major life event without my dad,” he recalls.

Gradually, Ronnie reengineered his performing life to weekly Facebook concerts. “The blues is a healer,” he explains, and social media “gave me a lifeline.” With those shows picking up steam—he discovered people tuning in from all parts of the world—Ronnie started working out new songs to introduce to his new online audience. The weekly deadline heightened the intensity in his writing sessions, forcing him to reflect on where he was in his life, what he had inherited, and the responsibilities that follow.

The song "Blues In My DNA" is the culmination of all those things. His father’s voice introduces the song—“I give you my blessing to keep these blues alive,” Lonnie says—followed by a heavy guitar riff that frames a complex testimonial about personal perseverance (“I didn’t know we had no money/because we were rich with pure love”), the struggle to confront legacy racism (“I can feel the pain from the chains/from what my ancestors been through”) and the strength to move forward (“keeping faith with every piece I break of this invisible glass ceiling”). To date, it is the most personal song Ronnie has committed to record. “It’s a tough story to tell. I’m singing, ‘I’m not complaining, Lord, I’m just explaining’ and that’s the truth. I’m just trying to tell the story and stay authentic to the blues in my life,” he says.

The rest of the album spans genres as it does personal themes. The soul ballad "Accept My Love" transports Brooks to memories of his mother Jeannine Baker, who died in 2023. “I wasn’t even thinking about my mom when I wrote it, but soon as the organ part came in, my mom came to me,” he says. The classic blues shuffle "Robbing Peter To Pay Paul," humorously looks at the struggles of trying to stay ahead while "Instant Gratification," a heavy rocker, captures the anxiety of needing satisfaction when running against the clock.

Above all else, Blues In My DNA is a testament to how Ronnie is translating his personal history to new audiences who haven’t walked in his shoes. “I’m on a journey,” he states. “When I decided to make this my career, it was to do whatever I can to elevate, not just the blues, but the legacy that’s in my DNA.”

–Mark Guarino
Mark Guarino is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, OffBeat, and ABC News.