It's a passion project that has been brewing since the mid-1990s for Gina Coleman, whose encounter with the legendary Odetta left a powerful impression. The moment when Gina and Odetta connected, sang side-by-side and locked together in harmony was a seminal moment in her career. This inspiration will come full circle in the form of a live album to be recorded May 12th and 13th in Studio 9 at the Porches Inn. The switch to acoustic and performing folk standards will be a switch for the Misty Blues. But pushing to the edges of the blues genre is nothing new for the band. And anyway, as Gina explains in this episode, African-American folk music is most certainly blues in her book. This performance and upcoming album comes on the heels of Misty Blues' most recent album "Outside the Lines," which includes a rich array of familiar voices and performers from the Berkshires and beyond. Gina and her band have not skipped a beat, not even during the pandemic, when they remarkably released three albums with the band members recording virtually. The beat goes on for Gina, and as someone who admits she basically doesn't sleep, there is surely more to come. We love it! Also in this episode we cover: the story of meeting Odetta at the Bottomline club in New York City as a guest of Arlo Guthrie, the decision to make this tribute a live album, growing up on the Bronx as hip hop and rap came on the scene, musical influences, including Motown and salsa, the earlier band Cole Connection and their acoustic funk style, a part in a Williamstown Theatre Festival production as a gospel singer that led to a transformative transition to blues, the rich variety of blues music, Gina's songwriting process and how much of it comes while she is driving, why she once utilized answering machines in her songwriting process, her son Diego choosing music as a major at Williams College, the evolution of Misty Blues from a blues tribute band to producing original music, the story of Charles Neville performing on an album, Gina's 27 years coaching rugby at Williams College and why the sport inspires her, performing at Firefly in Lenox and more.

I hope you'll enjoy my conversation with Gina Coleman.