Interview with Hugh Pool and Jon Ragusa of Mulebone

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Hugh Pool and Jon Ragusa of Mulebone
Mulebone is the long-running blues and roots partnership of guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer Hugh Pool and multi-instrumentalist Jon Ragusa. Built on the foundation of traditional blues, the duo takes the language of country blues, folk, roots music, and early American song forms and stretches it into something soulful, agile, and adventurous.
At the heart of Mulebone is a rare musical conversation between two players who know the tradition well enough to honor it, but not so carefully that they forget to have some fun with it. Their music can move from slide-guitar boogies and one-chord trance riffs in the spirit of Howlin’ Wolf to the uptempo ragtime snap of Reverend Gary Davis and the rural textures of country blues. Sometimes they play close to the source, almost tracing the outline of the original form. At other times, they step back, lift the music into the air, and look at it from a new angle.

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