Blues Moments in Time...

In this episode, we turn the calendar to February 2nd and watch the blues reshape itself—on stage, in the streets, and across the ocean. We begin in 1904 with the marriage that created “Ma and Pa Rainey,” tracing how Gertrude “Ma” Rainey rose to become the “Mother of the Blues,” standardizing the 12‑bar form, mentoring Bessie Smith, and turning a traveling act into a cultural force.

From there, we jump to 1948, when President Harry Truman’s civil rights message to Congress—calling for an end to poll taxes and lynching—echoed the dignity and defiance long sung on the Chitlin Circuit, where Black musicians faced Jim Crow every night on the road.

We then follow the “rebellious child of the blues” into rock and roll: Buddy Holly’s final Winter Dance Party show in 1959, and the Beatles’ first professional gig outside Liverpool in 1962, where British bands absorbed Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry and sold the blues back to the world.

Finally, we trace a poetic twist in the story of the Mississippi Sheiks: the birth of guitarist Walter Vincent in 1901, the death of bassist Sam Chapman in 1983—both on February 2nd—bookending a legacy that runs from “Sitting on Top of the World” to the outer edges of the genre with James Blood Ulmer’s boundary‑breaking blend of blues, funk, and free jazz. February 2nd emerges as a day when the blues marries tradition to rebellion, and local struggle to global sound.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

On this episode, we zoom in on a single date—February 1st—and uncover how it became a crossroads of freedom, protest, and musical reinvention in blues history. We trace the arc from the 1865 signing of the 13th Amendment and National Freedom Day to the start of Black History Month, framing the blues as a living “sonic record” of the journey from emancipation to the ongoing fight for equality.

We then move to Greensboro, 1960, where four students at a lunch counter helped turn the old Delta moan into a sharper, louder weapon for justice, reshaping the blues into music of direct protest. From there, we drop the needle on February 1st, 1965, as James Brown records “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” bending the 12‑bar form into a new rhythmic heartbeat and pushing the blues into funk for a new generation.

Along the way, we honor the births of poet Langston Hughes—whose pages “bled blues”—and slide guitar visionary Sonny Landreth, as well as the passing of Chicago Westside masters John Little John and Jimmy Johnson. February 1st emerges not just as a date, but as a living marker of how the blues remembers, resists, and reinvents itself.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

January 31 is more than a date on the calendar—it’s a crossroads of faith, struggle, and sound. In this episode, we stand in Chicago in 1972 at the funeral of Mahalia Jackson, where over 40,000 mourners gathered and Aretha Franklin’s closing song turned grief into a living testament to gospel, blues, and the Civil Rights Movement. We explore how Mahalia’s voice became both a spiritual anchor and a political force, from the March on Washington to national recognition from the White House.

From there, we trace how the emotional DNA of the blues flows into global pop: The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” topping the charts in 1970, Blondie’s “The Tide Is High” riding rhythms born from Black musical traditions, and rock innovators like Terry Kath and Phil Manzanera carrying Mississippi’s echoes into new sonic territories.

We close with the haunting legacy of Slim Harpo, the “swamp blues” master whose hypnotic grooves powered the Rolling Stones and modern blues rock. January 31 becomes a story of farewells and ripples—of how gospel, blues, and soul keep reshaping culture, politics, and the way the world feels its music.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

January 30 isn’t packed with famous blues birthdays or deaths—but that’s exactly what makes it powerful. In this episode, we trace how one ordinary date became a lens on the entire evolution of the blues. From Charlie Patton’s raw Delta masterpiece “Jersey Bull Blues” in 1934 to Sonny Boy Williamson II’s electric Chicago session with an all-star band in 1960, we follow the music’s journey from dusty backroads to neon-lit city nights.

We then step onto the London rooftop in 1969 for The Beatles’ final performance and explore how British rock giants carried the blues back to the world, amplifying its roots for new generations. Alongside these musical milestones, we confront the darker shadows of January 30—the rise of Hitler, the assassination of Gandhi—and ask how global turmoil seeps into the blues’ sound, spirit, and stories.

This episode is a meditation on legacy, resilience, and the countless unnamed artists whose lived experiences shaped the music we still feel today—proof that the blues is less about dates on a calendar and more about an unbroken, echoing human heartbeat.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, we trace January 29 as a fault line where law and music collide. We start in the 19th century, with Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850 and Mississippi’s short-lived 1873 civil rights bill—moments that built the legal scaffolding of slavery, sharecropping, and Jim Crow. These aren’t just dates in a textbook; they’re the backdrop to every blues lyric about a “mean old world” and a “high sheriff” who never played fair.

From there, we move to January 29, 1992, and the passing of Willie Dixon—the bassist, songwriter, and producer whose work at Chess Records became the blueprint for modern blues, rock, and soul, and whose legal battles helped secure artists’ rights. Finally, we meet Jonny Lang, born January 29, 1981, a teenage prodigy who carried that legacy into the age of MTV and streaming. Together, these stories reveal January 29 as a day where courtrooms, state houses, and recording studios all feed the same river: the blues as a lifelong argument for dignity, justice, and emotional truth.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.