WHITHER THE BLUES? When J&J Blues Bar announced in January that it was closing its doors after 25 years, blues fans in Fort Worth wondered, “How could this happen?” The city has an affiliation with the blues that stretches back to the 1940s. But the music that packed clubs in the city through the 1990s is harder and harder to fine. Fort Worth Weekly investigates the sad state of the blues in Cowtown in this week’s cover story, which also provides a thorough look back at the history of the blues in the city.

CIRCUS MAXIMUS: WaterTower Theatre launched this year’s edition of the Outside the Loop festival on Thursday night. Mike Daisey kicked off the event with his monologue about P.T. Barnum, the first in his Great Men of Genius series. “The end result is absolutely charming, despite language, and even a few narrated events, that would make even someone without a sense of shame blush bright red,” Lawson Taitte writes in his dallasnews.com review. If you’re thinking of heading to Addison, we’ve got every show of the festival listed on the Art&Seek calendar.

TWITA: The This Week in the Arts podcast goes for a double dose of theater this week. Bill Fountain discusses his philosophy behind Level Ground Arts, which is currently performing Cannibal! The Musical. Also on board is Carol M. Rice, artistic director of Rover Dramawerks. Rover’s current show is A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage.