12-Bar Talk: A Blues Podcast

The Utah Blues Festival is Utah's premier event for the latest and greatest blues musicians to perform in Salt Lake City, and it's celebrating it's 10th anniversary in 2026. Dr. Adams and Tripp Hopkins, the founder and organizer of the Utah Blues Festival and co-founder of the Utah Blues Society, sit down to talk about what it takes to run a blues festival successfully and how to help it continue...

Dr. Adams sits down with the 2026 Winner of the International Blues Challenge & 2026 Best Guitarist of International Blues Challenge, Derrick Dove. They discuss his time at the IBC; his love of music and how he creates his style; and his band, Derrick Dove and the Peacekeepers. Make sure to stay tuned to the end for a special "post-interview" conversation, inclusive of our regular podcast epis...

Dr. Adams sits down with Devin C. Williams, runner up for the 2026 Solo/Duo Division at the International Blues Challenge (IBC). They talk about the Delta Blues, his favorite Delta Blues musicians, the mixing of blues and Christianity, his experience at the IBC, and more.    Guest: Devin C. Williams Link to Website: https://www.dcwblues.com/   Link to Purchase Music: https://devincwilliams.bandcam...

The blues has inspired many things, whether new genres of music, dance, or works of art. But as today's guest regularly reminds us, perhaps the most important part of all of it is that the blues inspires people. It helps people learn, grow, and find themselves in their community. In this episode, Dr. Chelsea Adams sits down with award-winning children's book author Alice Faye Duncan to discuss her...

To start off 2026, Dr. Chelsea Adams features a blues festival supporting mental health resources in her hometown of Ogden, Utah. In this episode, she features artists Sun Tiger, Carrie Scott, and Tony Holiday along with community members and attendees.    Guests: Sandra Hohmann, Sun Tiger, Carrie Scott, Tony Holiday, and Various Ogden Community Members Link to the Mitten Durch Festival: https://w...

Dr. Justin McLendon, a professor of theology at Grand Canyon University and department chair for the Master of Arts programs for Grand Canyon Theological Seminary, joins Dr. Adams to discuss his chapter in his edited collection Theology and the Blues, part of a series from Lexington Books on Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture. They cover everything from philosophy and Civil Rights to lamentation...

Join Dr. Adams as she gets to know the lead band members of the multi-award winning blues band Piper and the Hard Times. They talk building relationships as musicians, genre and how they view the blues, and the songwriting process for the band and their new album. And for dancers, they've got a unique opportunity! Guests: Al "Piper" Green, Steve Eagon, and Dave Colella Website: https://www.piperan...

Al Chesis and his Delta Sonics played the Sunday set at Mile High Blues 2025. While they didn't have a chance to sit down and talk live, Al and Dr. Adams sat down before the event to talk about his career, life, and blues music. Guest: Al Chesis Website: www.deltasonics.net/home     Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams Post-Production by Jeremy Carberry   12-Bar Talk is brought to you from Ogden, Utah's...

Join Rex Peoples and Dr. Adams as they discuss blues music and dance, culture, and take audience questions in this live recording from Mile High Blues.    Guest: Rex Peoples Website: www.rexpeoples.com   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams Post-Production by Jeremy Carberry   12-Bar Talk is brought to you from Ogden, Utah's "Junction City" full of blues and jazz history on Historic 25th Street. You can...

The podcast travels to Denver, CO for the first Mile High Blues since the pandemic to interview the Colorado blues greats at the event. Dr. Adams started the weekend off with a live-audience interview with Maynard Mills and John Long.   Guests: Maynard Mills and John Long Websites: https://maynardmills.com/ ; https://www.johnlongblues.com/   Article on Maynard Mills   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams...

Dr. Adams sits down with Lady A to discuss her music, but overall, this is an episode about getting to know your neighbors, about lifting each other up, and about speaking up for those who may not have opportunities to succeed if you don’t.   Guest: Lady A Website: https://www.ladyababyblues.com/ Info for One Seattle Soul: https://therhapsodyproject.org/one-seattle-soul/   Produced by Dr. Chelsea...

Dr. Adams sits down with dance historian and blues dance practitioner Damon Stone to discuss what we call the blues dance community, cultural ambassadorship, the good and the bad of culture, the need to spend time in black spaces, and more.    Guest: Damon Stone Website: https://damonstone.dance/   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams Post-Production by Jeremy Carberry   12-Bar Talk is brought to you fro...

Stef Rosen and Dr. Adams sit down and talk about his love for blues music and what it is like to learn the culture as you learn to play the blues, how he encountered the blues dance community and his experiences playing music for them, and the differences in various styles of blues, and more.  Guest: Stef Rosen Website: https://slidinwolf.com/   Bandcamp: https://stefrosen.bandcamp.com/album/souli...

Young Rell and Dr. Chelsea Adams sit down to talk music, the power of community and a crowd, and thoughts on college education. You can also take time to support Young Rell by following him on his social media pages, listed below, and by putting money to his GoFundMe campaign to help him get the money he needs to launch his first album.  Guest: Harrell "Young Rell" Davenport Website: https://young...

Dr. Chelsea Adams sits down with Sarah Rucker to discuss the life and legacy of Clifford Antone--the legendary owner of Antone's in Austin, TX--in his later years. Rucker was Antone's personal assistant from 2004 until his death. They also discuss how Rucker is continuing his legacy of advocacy for musicians and folk music in Texas and throughout the USA.    Guest: Sarah Rucker Sarah Rucker is an...

How do you map dances across space and time, especially when doing so requires dealing with forced migration and slavery? Dr. Chelsea Adams and Deirdre Molloy discuss dance, the African Diaspora, and Molloy's ambitious Doctoral project of mapping dance from Africa to the Caribbean and Americas in her interactive Unity Atlantic Map (link below).  Guest: Deirdre Molloy Website to the Unity Atlantic...

In today's world of social media, much of what was once accessible through online events is no longer easy to access. Josh Davis, board member on the Blues Association of Austin, discusses what we might do to help make events work for more people, and how we can get more of the community involved.  Guest: Josh Davis Website: joshdavis.contact   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams Post-Production by Jere...

Writer, Instructor, and Lecturer Grey Armstrong and Dr. Chelsea Adams get personal about community, why people are leaving social dance, and what we can do about it.    Guest: Grey Armstrong Video Referenced: Why Is Everyone Leaving Social Dance? Websites: https://obsidiantea.com/, https://greyarmstrong.com/   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams   12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blue...

Dr. Chelsea Adams sits down with local Utah musician Columbia Jones to discuss blues, genre, competitions, and building a career as a musician. Jones’ songs are earnest reflections of the everyday American experience paired with a sound that blends the best elements of Americana, Folk, Country, and Blues. His versatility as a musician is evident in the wide range of instruments and musical styles...

Dr. Chelsea Adams talks with blues musician and dance instructor Charlley Ward about the power of sharing information across generations, an act called generativity. They discuss the power of both listening to elders and respecting culture, but also the importance of pushing genre and culture forward through innovation in both the music and dance communities. Charlley also shares some of his favor...

Dr. Chelsea Adams interviews a premier musician from the Macon Music scene, Angel “Cash” Ocasio, Jr., founder of the band Cash's Juke Joint. They talk about the origins of the band, Angel's family upbringing and the importance of church in his life to shape his musical sound, and the power of the blues for the current generation of musicians to shape the future of the blues. You can find Cash's mu...

We often talk about the blues in vague and general terms: a feeling that you know when you have, a sound that a musician either has or doesn't. But what actually makes up this genre of music? In this episode, Dr. Chelsea Adams shares some of her scholarly research in a condensed format to help people reach a general shared understanding of a definition of the genre, with the hopes of working from...

Dr. Chelsea Adams and Philly organizer and dancer Genevieve Senechal discuss Powerhouse Blues and Blues Muse, how to build community, and how to evolve events to fit community needs after a pandemic. This interview is from June 2023, and has been edited to reflect the delay in release.    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guest: Genevieve Senechal www.bluesmuse.dance/ www.powerhousebluesphilly.com/     Pr...

Award-winning musician Erica Brown talks with Dr. Adams about the power of community to lift up talent, how that influenced her career, and the importance of mentorship to continue to build and innovate in blues music.    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guest: Erica Brown https://www.ericabrownentertainment.com/   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams   12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues...

In honor of Black History Month, Dr. Chelsea Adams gives a brief historical spotlight of famed, but often forgotten or marginalized blues singer and performer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, utilizing information from archives and a variety of sources, including the one official biography of Ma Rainey: Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey, written by Sandra Lieb.    Link to Biography   Produced by Dr....