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Jason “Deep Dive” Lord • • About the Author
Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy through them, Deep Dive earns a small commission—thanks for the support!

Dust & Devil Wind: Ghost Blues for the AI Age – The Making of a Fan-Powered Album

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Dust & Devil Wind: Ghost Blues for the AI Age – The Making of a Fan-Powered Album

Jason Lord
Jason “Deep Dive” Lord
May 14, 2025 • Privacy Policy & Terms

Every album tells a story. But what if the story wasn’t just in the songs, but in the way the songs were chosen? Dust & Devil Wind: Ghost Blues for the AI Age is a blues album unlike any other. Built across 16 days, fueled by fan votes, and born from a crossroads between classic soul and cutting-edge AI, this project is an experiment, a collaboration, and a revival all in one.

We didn’t just write these songs. We opened the process. We let the community decide which versions belong, track by track. And now we want to show you how it all came together.

🔄 The Concept: A/B Testing Meets the Delta

The idea for the A/B album test came during a late-night blues session with a slide guitar and a Suno-generated backing track. Two variations of the same instrumental had emerged: one raw and sparse, the other cinematic and layered. Which one was better? Depends who you ask.

That question became the concept: what if we didn’t decide? What if the audience voted?

Each day, we release two versions of a new instrumental track — Side A and Side B. The version that gets the most YouTube likes by the end of the day gets locked into the album. It’s direct, transparent, and shaped by community ears instead of producer egos.

🎶 The Sound: Haunted, Handmade, and Human

Though these tracks are AI-assisted, the soul comes from slide guitars, falsetto harmonies, and deep reverence for pre-war Delta blues. Every piece is built with human emotion at its core. We used tools like Suno for backing structures, CapCut for visual rhythm, and our own musical fingerprints to stitch everything together.

Instruments were carefully prompted to reflect the tonal character of artists like Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Son House. Slide guitar was emphasized in Open G and D tunings, with rhythmic nods to early jug bands and church stomp sessions. The result is eerie, honest, and alive.

🧛‍♂️ Meet The Delta Phantom

Every album needs a voice. For this one, we created a spectral narrator: The Delta Phantom. He’s not a real person, but a composite spirit of the blues. His backstory draws from folklore—a failed bluesman who haunts old jukeboxes and backwoods cabins, searching for the perfect slide riff to set him free.

He whispers through the music, appears in our art, and shapes the emotion of each track. He’s mythological, but he makes the listening experience personal.

📅 Days 1–4: The Journey So Far

Each day unlocks a new pairing. Here’s a quick breakdown of the first four battles:

  • Day 1: Dust & Devil Wind – Side A (atmospheric tremolo) vs. Side B (slide-driven rage)
  • Day 2: Crossroads Echo – Side A (Delta mournful) vs. Side B (tight, forward-moving rhythm)
  • Day 3: Hellhound Hop – Side A (Bone Rattler) vs. Side B (Hiss & Howl)
  • Day 4: Phantom Blues Waltz – Side A (Cold Floor Lament) vs. Side B (Lace & Smoke)

Each match reveals more about the audience: what moods they respond to, which instrumentals resonate, and what kind of ghost stories they want from their blues.

👥 The Community: Your Vote, Your Record

We’re not just putting this music out there. We’re asking you to be part of it.

Voting happens on YouTube. Simply LIKE the version you prefer. That’s it. No forms, no logins, no gimmicks. Most-liked version each day gets mastered into the final album.

We also post full updates and reflections on the Deep Dive blog, podcast episodes on Spotify, and teaser Shorts across TikTok and YouTube. Fans have already weighed in from across the globe, and some comments have even influenced our visuals and future sound choices.

🎯 Tools of the Trade (Affiliate)

This wouldn’t be possible without a small-but-mighty gear setup:

All links above are affiliate-supported, helping fund this community-based blues revival.

🔼 What Comes Next?

With 12 more days ahead, there’s still time to shape this record. Each new track leans into a different feeling: some cinematic, some traditional, some totally experimental. And all of them are co-produced by you.

At the end of the 16 days, we’ll publish the final track order, master the album, and make it available on streaming platforms along with a full documentary recap.

👋 Join the Movement

This isn’t just a blues album. It’s a collaboration between artist, audience, and AI. It’s proof that even in the algorithm age, soul still matters. Grit still matters. And ghost stories still get told—just in new ways.

So vote with your ears. Like the track that moves you. And help us raise the Delta Phantom from the shadows once and for all.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting the Deep Dive blues project.

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