Blues Moments in Time...

On this episode, we trace March 15 as a fault line in American blues history—where politics, faith, and sound collide. From LBJ’s “We Shall Overcome” speech and the Voting Rights Act, to Ray Charles’s “I’ve Got a Woman” redefining Black music, to the intertwined legacies of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Ry Cooder, we explore how the blues becomes a living archive of memory, resistance, and survival. IN TH...

On this powerful episode of Blues Moments in Time , we trace the journey of the blues from the hardship of the Jim Crow South to the electrified streets of Chicago, uncovering how struggle gave rise to sound that changed the world. March 14 connects the dots between the Great Migration’s cultural upheaval and the personal legacies of icons like Buddy Guy, the revolutionary “Queen of the Organ” Shi...

On March 13, two very different front lines—Selma, Alabama and swinging‑London—revealed how deeply the blues runs through global culture. As civil rights marchers faced state violence to secure the vote in 1965, a young Eric Clapton walked away from pop stardom to chase the raw truth of Black blues music. This episode traces how the blues, born from oppression and survival, shaped political resist...

=Listener Discretion= This episode of Blues Moments in Time, includes historical discussion of racism and systemic injustice in the United States and may include the names and stories of people who are no longer with us.. We approach these topics in a factual, educational context, but listener discretion is advised. This episode traces how March 12 reveals the blues as a mirror of struggle — from...

From the Broadway debut of A Raisin in the Sun to the haunting "whoop" of Sonny Terry’s harmonica, March 11th is a day where the blues speaks the truth of the American experience. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:46] - The Cultural Landscape [01:27] - The Political Climate [01:55] - Exploring The Music [02:57] - Births [03:23] - Passings [03:46] - Conclusion KEY FIGURES MENTIONED: Sonny...

Today, we honour the legacy of Harriet Tubman, celebrate the birth of guitar great Ronnie Earl, and revisit the historic 1972 Gary Convention. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:43] - The Cultural Landscape [01:20] - The Political Climate [01:56] - Exploring The Music [02:26] - Births [02:56] - Passings [03:26] - Conclusion KEY FIGURES MENTIONED: Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) Luis Russell (1...

Today on March 9, we follow the marchers back to the bridge in Selma, witness a historic legal victory for freedom in the Amistad case, and celebrate the New Orleans legend who gave us "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:43] - The Cultural Landscape [01:10] - The Political Climate [01:35] - Exploring The Music [01:58] - Births [02:18] - Passings [02:42] - Conclusion KE...

From the halls of the Senate to the gentle strings of Mississippi John Hurt, today we explore how March 8th shaped the soul of the blues. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:43] - The Cultural Landscape [01:17] - The Political Climate [02:01] - Exploring The Music [02:31] - Births [03:00] - Passings [03:21] - Conclusion KEY FIGURES MENTIONED: Mississippi John Hurt (1893–1966) Willie King (...

March 7 is where the blues steps onto the bridge—literally and metaphorically. From Bloody Sunday in Selma to the first commercial jazz record, from Townes Van Zandt’s haunted ballads to Lowell Fulson’s West Coast grit and Ali Farka Touré’s desert trance, this date reveals the blues as a transatlantic story of terror, tenderness, and the stubborn pursuit of dignity. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Intr...

On March 6, the blues steps into history as both witness and verdict. From the Dred Scott decision’s brutal denial of Black humanity to Ghana’s first sunrise of independence a century later, and from Furry Lewis’s bottleneck slide to King Floyd’s New Orleans soul‑blues grooves, this date shows the blues as more than music—it’s a receipt for every hardship endured and every victory claimed. IN THIS...

March 5th is a day where resistance, reinvention, and raw musical power collide. From the Boston Massacre’s spark of defiance to Churchill’s Iron Curtain warning, from Little Walter’s amplified revolution to Elvis reshaping R&B on national television, this date shows the blues as more than music — it’s a running commentary on freedom, migration, and the human fight to be heard. It’s the story...

On March 4th, the blues walks a tightrope between promise and reality—from the ink drying on the U.S. Constitution to the breadlines and work camps of the Great Depression, from Piedmont porches to distorted Memphis amplifiers and British stages. It’s a day where legal frameworks, social upheaval, and guitar tone all collide, revealing the blues as a living, breathing history of resilience—stretch...

On March 3rd, the blues stands in the glare of history—between the first sunrise of freedom and the harsh light of a camcorder capturing Rodney King’s beating. From Mississippi John Hurt’s gentle fingerpicking to Junior Parker’s velvet Memphis groove, from Buffalo Springfield’s protest anthems to the regional guardians who kept Delta traditions alive, this date reveals the blues as more than music...

On March 2nd, the blues stands at a crossroads—where empires shift, borders break, and a single beat can change the future of American music. From the end of the international slave trade to the birth of the Bo Diddley rhythm, from Son House’s spiritual fire to Rory Gallagher’s global roar, this date captures the blues in motion: evolving, resisting, and reshaping the world one note at a time. IN...

March 1 is where the blues looks forward—women building the industry from the ground up, students walking out for justice, and a musical bloodline that runs from boogie‑woogie piano to calypso activism, turntables, and neo‑soul. It’s one date, but a whole century of people using rhythm as a weapon, a refuge, and a roadmap. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:53] - The Cultural Landscape [0...

On February 28, the blues doesn’t just mark a date on the calendar—it marks a crossroads. From a Broadway stage where Black voices first shook the walls of segregation, to a three–chord guitar riff launched into outer space, to indictments that finally cracked the armor of Jim Crow justice, this single day traces the blues’ journey from Southern streets to the stars. In this episode, we follow Feb...

February 27 is where the blues bares its teeth — from lunch-counter beatings and legal double standards to record-breaking rock ’n’ roll and road-worn survivors, this is a day when Black talent keeps breaking through walls that were never meant to let it in. It’s resistance, release, and raw genius, all stamped on the same square of the calendar. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:45] - T...

February 26 is where American music gets dragged through the mud — the day stolen sounds made millions, promised rights were stripped bare, and the blues rose up from the wreckage to tell the truth nobody wanted to hear. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:49] - The Cultural Landscape [02:30] - The Political Climate [03:43] - Exploring the Music [04:33] - Births [06:19] - Passings [07:39]...

On February 25, history didn’t whisper — it shouted . From a Senate seat reclaimed from the Confederacy to a young Muhammad Ali refusing to bow, this date shows how defiance, survival, and raw truth shaped the blues. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] - Introduction [00:46] - The Cultural Landscape [01:51] - The Political Climate [02:54] - Exploring the Music [04:07] - Births [05:25] - Passings [06:43] - Co...

From Kentucky’s defiance of emancipation to B.B. King’s Grammy honor and Memphis Slim’s Paris exile, this episode traces how February 24th captures the blues’ journey from oppression and field hollers to British blues explosions, arena stages, and worldwide recognition. Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES. Website: https://www.theblue...

From W.E.B. Du Bois’ intellectual scaffolding to Mississippi’s fraught readmission to the Union, this episode traces how February 23 threads through the social, political, and musical birth of the blues. We follow recording milestones from Bertha “Chippy” Hill to Oliver Nelson, and celebrate the legacies of Johnny Winter, Melvin Taylor, Big Maceo Merriweather, and John Little John. Together, their...

February 22 charts the blues slipping through the front door of mainstream culture and roaring back as a modern protest voice. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time , we follow Elvis Presley’s 1956 hit “Heartbreak Hotel” as a slow-blues “Trojan horse” that smuggled Beale Street feeling onto the pop charts and accidentally sparked a 1960s blues revival, sending young listeners digging for Muddy...

February 21 captures the blues in motion—from revolution to the White House, from “race records” to the pop charts. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time , we trace how the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X pushed Black American music from polished optimism into a grittier, electrified, politically charged sound that helped fuel funk and blues‑rock, and how B.B. King’s 1970 hit “The Thrill Is Gon...

This episode traces the powerful crossroads of February 20—from Frederick Douglass’s passing in 1895 and the rise of the blues under Jim Crow, to the electric defiance of the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott. We jump to 1962, when Lightning Hopkins improvised a blues tribute as John Glenn orbited Earth, and spotlight key February 20 birthdays that shaped the genre. A date that proves the blues doesn’t...

February 19th captures the blues in motion—from global Black consciousness to the electrified sound of mid‑century Chicago and the roar of arena rock. We begin in 1919, when W.E.B. Du Bois convenes the first Pan‑African Congress in Paris, laying the intellectual groundwork for the New Negro movement and building the cultural confidence that helped open the recording industry to Black artists like...