Age Group:
Adults- Registration is required for this event.
- Registration will open on August 7, 2026 @ 9:00am.
Program Description
Event Details
Terry captivates audiences from the start with vivid memories of growing up amid the electric sounds of Chicago’s West Side—only later realizing that the British rock icons he idolized had drawn their music straight from the Mississippi-born blues legends playing nightly in his own backyard. A lifelong friendship with Muddy Waters opened doors to countless adventures: writing Grammy-winning songs together, jamming with George Thorogood, witnessing the Rolling Stones’ impromptu set with Muddy, and collaborating with greats like Johnny Winter, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Clarence Clemons, and even the Blues Brothers. Along the way, Terry reveals surprising tales—Led Zeppelin’s borrowed lyrics, Prince’s lifted tune, and a movie written for an unexpected cartel producer—all underscoring his central message: the rock and roll we know was born from the Blues, the music of resilience and reinvention. Afterward, Terry delights fans with personalized song-lyric autographs created on the spot.
Author Bio:
A native of Chicago’s West Side and a Chicago Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Terry Abrahamson’s music has been recorded by six members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His Blues photography has been shown worldwide, his plays have been performed on stages across America, and his writing has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, in television and motion pictures, at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History, on the stage of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, at Johnnie Cochran’s funeral, and before the United States Supreme Court.
A decades-long friendship with Muddy Waters opened doors to countless adventures: writing Grammy-winning songs together, witnessing - backstage and onstage - the Rolling Stones’ impromptu 1978 set with Muddy; hanging and cruising with the Blues Brothers in Chicago, collaborating with Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, Clarence Clemons and Joan Jett, and his comic disaster with BB King that inspired an award-winning film.
Terry has also been a Blues producer, talent agent, DJ, panelist, and journalist. His photomemoir, In the Belly of the Blues, is in the permanent collection of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His kids’ history of the Blues, The Blues Parade, anchored the Chicago Public Library’s 2020 African American History Month celebration.
As an educator, Terry, joined by globally-celebrated Bluesicians, brings to life the historic significance, resonance and transformative powers of the tools of the Blues – whimsy, swagger and imagination – challenging the kids and families in his school, library and festival audiences to energize their voices with those tools, to be heard by the world as those voices are meant to be heard. Invariably, these events bring kids rockin’ to their feet, and embraced by their history….and their legacy.
Terry lives in the Buena Park district of Chicago’s historic Uptown neighborhood.
Please check out his book website:
https://www.inthebellyoftheblues.com/
Disclaimer(s)
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The Library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request special accommodations, please contact the Library at least ten business days prior to a scheduled program.