For three years of my life the only song I listened to was the live version of Texas Flood by SRV. It got to where people refused to ride in my truck with me. Now I listen to other songs, but that one will always be special to me.

Modern blues is great. It is the culmination and distillation of the blues tradition and it rocks pretty hard. You should pay some attention to the old blues guys and gals so you can have an understanding and appreciation of where the modern version comes from.

I would start with Charley Patton about 1923 and work my way forward chronologically from there.