Larry Hill Taylor grew up during the 1960s on Chicago’s rough and soulful West Side, with almost-famous parents: singer Vera Taylor, his mother, and guitarist Eddie Taylor, his stepfather. A survivor of family abuse and conflict, gangs, prison, drugs, and the streets, Taylor spent 30 years on stage, drumming and singing and learning the blues from his musical elders as they changed people’s hard times to good times. Bonni McKeown’s book, Stepson of the Blues, examines what happened when Taylor started to lead his own band. Can a bluesman play his music and get paid in modern America?

Bonni, how did you come to know about, and know, Larry Hill Taylor?

I met him at a blues jam at Buddy Guy’s Legends, Chicago, in 2003. He said he liked my old-fashioned piano style. He needed someone to help promote his career.

When did you realize that his was a story that needed to be told?

I thought Larry was the answer to all the music critics who were lamenting that younger musicians were not playing traditional blues. But when we tried to promote him, we ran into hypocrisy, greed, corruption and racism in the music business. An old-boy system, controlled by a few promoters and record labels, favors imitators and keeps new African American artists from coming up. The more Larry spoke out, the more his career was stifled. The only way around this was to expose it in a book. Besides, Larry is a cat who’s lived more than nine lives, and his spiritual journey through inner city darkness is fascinating in itself. You can’t say it’s triumph, but it’s survival.

In your statement about the book, you compare the process of writing Stepson of the Blues to Alex Haley’s writing the autobiography of Malcolm X. How are they similar?

In addition to journals and letters I had kept while trying to promote Larry, I held over 20 interviews with him in person and on the phone. I drafted the story in segments, trying to keep it in chronological order and also grouped in topics. Larry read and commented on the drafts, the same as Malcolm X did for Alex Haley.

How did your personal experiences as a blues musician and a bandleader inform the book?

I started out as a journalist by trade, and did a little coffeehouse solo piano act. Larry was my main teacher in the Chicago electric form of blues; he showed me what to look and listen for to make the music better. In writing, I tried to fit Larry’s personal story into the bigger streams of history that have gone on during his lifetime: the great African American migration from the south, the rise of urban gangs and drug problems, civil rights, and black power debates in the community.

What do you hope your readers will come away with after reading Stepson of the Blues?

A greater appreciation for the people who actually live and create the blues, not just big-name artists.

What has been your greatest success to date?

Just this week, we made an informal debut of the book at the Blues and Spirit Symposium at Dominican University outside Chicago. Some of the critics who had been ignoring us bought our book! With so little real journalism going on these days, people are looking to books for in-depth research that can spark discussion.

How did you find out about Fractured Atlas and what motivated you to become a member?

I went to the Chicago Creative Arts Fair in 2009 and attended a fund raising workshop by Diane Debicella. I’ve written small arts grants, so it wasn’t hard to fill out the Fractured Atlas form and create a budget. Through fiscal sponsorship, patrons can give to individual artists and their gift is tax-deductible!

How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

To get the book out in time for the symposium and the 2010 Chicago Blues Festival, I had to borrow money and self-publish a small print run rather than waiting to find a publisher. Through my fiscal sponsorship, I am asking friends and fans to donate money for printing and touring costs. After printing the book, I’m 50% under budget because I got a friend to donate the editing and a local printer helped me design the cover, but in order to catch up from all the time I spent on the work and, consequently, went into debt, I still need help from those who believe in our cause and appreciate a good story.

What’s next on your professional horizon?

Promoting the book by speaking to community groups and networking online. Seeking a publisher for the next edition, to include footnotes and index. Also looking for partners for a documentary, a feature film, a recorded book with music, a new record deal for Larry, and other projects connected with the story.

How can we learn more about your work?

For my music, you can go to my website. Information about the book and some of Larry’s music, including a song I co-wrote with him called “Green Line Blues”, is on www.stepsonoftheblues.com. You can also order the book there. Larry and I are each available for speaking engagements and Larry’s band is available for hire as well.