Blues Moments in Time...

November 19 isn’t just another date on the calendar—it’s a crossroads where the past, present, and future of the blues converge. In this episode, we trace the genre’s heartbeat through milestones that span continents and generations: the birth of West Coast legend Chris Kaine, the passing of trailblazer Danny Kalb of The Blues Project, and Bill Coleman’s groundbreaking 1937 Paris session that carried “Big Boy Blues” across the Atlantic. We spotlight the release of genre-defining albums—from Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage in 1979 to Dion and When Rivers Meet’s acclaimed works in 2021—that prove the blues remains endlessly inventive. And we celebrate how November 19 continues to resonate today, with live performances lighting up stages from Australia to the UK. This episode reveals how the blues is not a relic of history but a living, evolving art form—an ongoing global conversation between its roots and its reinvention.

November 18 isn’t crowded with headlines—but the blues rarely needed them. This episode traces a date defined by what’s felt as much as what’s recorded: the quiet passing of journeyman pianists whose fingerprints are all over the music, the velvet-smooth voice of Junior Parker gone too soon, blues-rock’s surge into the mainstream, and the global echoes still ringing in Berlin clubs decades later. We explore how the genre’s deepest truths live between the lines—where songs traveled by memory, names faded, and legacies were carried in calloused hands and night-to-night gigs. This is the blues as it’s lived: triumph and loss in equal measure, and the stories we still owe the ones who never made it to tape.

November 17 may look like just another date on the calendar, but in the world of blues and its far-reaching influence, it holds remarkable significance. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, host Kelvin Huggins uncovers the unseen importance of November 17—a day that gave us Jack Owens, the haunting voice of the Bentonia blues; Tab Benoit, the bayou guitarist whose mission extends from music to environmental activism; and Jeff Buckley, the genre-defying artist whose love for Robert Johnson shaped his emotional soundscapes.

We also revisit Elton John’s legendary 11/17/70 live recording, a performance that captured the raw, blues-infused energy of his early career. Together, these stories reveal how the blues is not a relic of the past but a living tradition—passed from porch to juke joint to festival stage, evolving across generations and geographies.

Tune in as we celebrate the haunting minor keys of Mississippi, the swampy grooves of Louisiana, and the timeless emotional power that continues to ripple through rock, folk, and beyond. November 17 proves that even ordinary dates can hold extraordinary meaning in the soundtrack of American music.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Listen Tomorrow for: Another Blues Moment in Time

Keep the blues alive.

© 2025 The Blues Hotel Collective.

Join Rufus Tate as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of November 16th in blues history.

November 16 maps a bold arc of the blues—from W.C. Handy putting the music “down on paper” and giving it a popular voice, to Jimi Hendrix blasting those roots into a cosmic, electric future with Electric Ladyland at the top of the charts. We trace that lineage into the present day, where Australia’s scene—Ash Grunwald’s stompbox thunder, Chain’s long-running grit, and festival stages from Queenscliff to Thredbo—keeps the acoustic Delta dust alive while pushing the edges of blues-rock. This episode is a timeline you can feel: arranged, amplified, and roaring across continents. Cue up Handy’s classics, spin Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” then step onto Australia’s sunburnt stages—the blues travels, adapts, and gets bloody loud on November 16.

Join Rufus Tate as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of November 15th in blues history.

November 15 traces a living blues lineage—from the bottleneck fire of James “Kokomo” Arnold, whose “Old Original Kokomo Blues” seeded Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago,” to the single-take grit of Tyler Bryant’s 2025 release “Falling Up,” echoing the raw instinct of Freddy King. We ride that feeling across oceans to Western Australia, where the Blues at Bridgetown festival turns a quiet valley into a roaring hub of roots, slide, and late-night soul—spotlighting local flavors from Scarlet’s Way to Videlli. This episode is a travelogue of tone and time: Delta sparks, modern ignition, and the sun-drenched, sometimes darker Aussie vibe that proves the blues keeps breathing, evolving, and reaching new ears—one November 15 at a time.