It's not as simple as it is small. At its best, it's a top-notch band that can belt out a biting Chicago blues number; at its worst (possibly even at the same venue on the same night), it's a degenerating jam session that resorts to "Sweet Home Alabama" for moral support from the crowd. Between those extremes you have a handful of local blues and R&B legends, a few young headcutting wizards, a legion of terminal rock guitar addicts, and exactly one Piedmont-style blues player. (But he's Malaysian, and he might not stick around for long.)

So what is "Singapura blue"? It's an obscure community with a lot of music going on, but the story and the people remain buried underneath. In Singapore, the blues receives virtually no radio air-play, no media coverage, and little recognition. The local bluespeople are fighting to change that -- from grassroots efforts to maintain a Singapore blues festival to promoters' landing of artists such as Johnnie Johnson, Canned Heat, Buddy Guy, and Walter Trout for concert dates in recent years. Support the blues in Singapore -- check it out, read about it, write about it, talk about it, or just get up onstage and jam with these guys.