<p>Can white musicians play the blues? The present article aims to deepen the discussion of this question initiated by Joel Rudinow. I examine the two main arguments he offers for answering in the negative. While agreeing with the author that the proprietary argument is a red herring, I argue that some of his reasons for dismissing it are misplaced and obscure the issue. The experiential access argument Rudinow favours is more convincing, but the form he defends sets fairly trivial conditions. I argue that the historical background he draws on supports more complex conditions that white musicians can't obviously meet. I also examine Paul Taylor's principal counter-proposals to Rudinow. The contrast between Taylor's racializing project and important philosophies of music highlights the paucity of aesthetic elements in his analysis of the blues. Further, his thesis echoes historical inauthentic demands made of authors of color in ways that justify applying a hermeneutic of suspicion.&#xa0;I don’t propound a definitive answer to the question of whether white musicians can play the blues; I argue it hinges on sociological as well as philosophical determinations. However, the thrust of my arguments is to complicate the application of criteria that deny the authenticity of such performances.</p>