Blues Is My Wailin' Wall is the debut album by the American musician Mighty Mo Rodgers, released in 1999.[1][2] Rodgers referred to his music as "nu bluez"; he was also working on a master's thesis titled "Blues as Metaphysical Music (Its Musicality and Ontological Underpinnings)".[3][4] He initially released the album on his label, North Star Records, in December 1998.[5] Rodgers supported the album with a North American tour.[6] He was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for "Best New Artist Debut".[7]
Rodgers funded the album, which he produced and recorded over 18 months.[5][8] Rodgers was influenced by Ralph Ellison's Juneteenth, which argued that the blues were a part of the lives of all Black Americans.[9] He was also influenced by Jimmy Reed and Willie Dixon, whom he saw perform at his father's Indiana club.[10] "Tuskegee Blues" is about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.[5] "Took Away the Drum" made use of kalimbas.[11]
Exclaim! wrote that the album "is no revivalist camp ... but a richly musical charge that recalls the work of the late Curtis Mayfield... Rodgers' deep, warm vocals embrace gospel and R&B, and his voice alternates between a powerful growl and a gentle caress across arrangements designed around solid hooks that first seduce the listener before driving home their message."[16] The Daily Herald noted that, "where most contemporary blues songs are riffs built around hogging guitar solos, Rodgers brings a literate, philosophical punch to the genre."[17] The Edmonton Journal said that "slices of soul, dips into R&B, some rootsy roadhouse arrangements and a voice that has lived every lyric, amounts to an impressive 11 songs."[13]The Press of Atlantic City determined that "the album is uneven in spots, but Rodgers makes a valiant effort to do something different."[15]
