The Treasure of Lemon Brown

The Delta Blues is a highly influential style of folk music that originated in Mississippi during the early 20th century. Like many musical genres, the blues was created by African American artists. The blues grew out of Black Americans’ rich folk music traditions, such as spirituals and work chants. When this “uniquely American music” emerged in the early 1900s, the Delta Blues was described as “black music played by black people for black people” (Cramer, Mai, and David Evans. “Delta Blues Music.” American Experience, 2025). Delta Blues music embraces a minimalist ethos with many songs featuring only a single performer singing and playing an acoustic instrument. The harmonica, which Lemon Brown plays, and the slide guitar are particularly important instruments within this style.

Blues performances are charged with powerful emotions, and the lyrics often examine the struggles of daily life, such as relationship problems. Lemon Brown’s lyrical dialogue about the relentless “Mr. Pain” and “hard times” reflects this kind of universal human struggle. Myers styles the fictional Lemon Brown after historical Delta Blues musicians, many of whom faced great hardship in their personal and professional lives. For example, Robert Johnson, who is known as the King of the Delta Blues, lost his first wife and son in childbirth. In Myers’s story, Lemon Brown also grieves the death of his wife and the loss of his son during the war. 

The Delta Blues eventually spread north from its origins in Mississippi as musicians like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters relocated to cities like Chicago and Detroit. The influence of the Delta Blues can be felt across many musical genres that came after it. Journalist Caleb Catlin notes that “As it spread across the nation and new genres emerged from blues, its fingerprints are all over much of the music we adore today like R&B and rock [and] the biggest genre in all of music, hip-hop” (Catlin, Caleb. "How The Blues Transformed Into Hip-Hop." Medium, 11 Sept. 2020). Throughout his short story, Myers emphasizes the legacy of the Delta Blues as a treasure that shapes Lemon Brown’s personal history and worldview. Sharing this legacy with Greg mirrors the symbolic, intergenerational influence of the Delta Blues on later generations of musicians.