February 14 is more than roses and romance—it’s a cornerstone date in blues history. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, we trace how Frederick Douglass’s chosen birthday helped inspire Black History Month, creating the cultural space for the blues to be honored as serious art, and how the founding of the SCLC in 1957 pushed the music from acoustic Delta roots into the urgent, electric sound of soul and R&B.

We drop into Mamie Smith’s 1920 “Big Bang” recording session and Aretha Franklin’s 1967 take on “Respect,” where a blues-drenched performance turned a man’s plea into a woman’s demand for equality. Along the way, we spotlight West Side guitar firebrand Magic Sam, funk-blues sax master Maceo Parker, and Chitlin’ Circuit hero G.B. Coleman—voices that prove February 14 is a day when the blues speaks of identity, struggle, and triumph.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 13 traces a century of change in the blues—from backroom deals to royalty checks, from quiet suffering to anthems of resistance. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, we look at how the founding of ASCAP in 1914 laid the groundwork for blues songwriters to finally claim their intellectual property, and how the 1960 Nashville sit-ins helped push the music from “my baby left me” laments to soul-drenched protest songs.

We revisit key recording sessions by Lonnie Johnson and Earl “Fatha” Hines that bridged Delta roots with urban sophistication, and mark the births of King Floyd and Peter Tork, artists who smuggled blues feeling into funk and pop. Finally, we reflect on the deaths of Piedmont master Blind Boy Fuller and “outlaw” country legend Waylon Jennings, two figures whose lives bookend the journey from acoustic street corners to the electric roar of Chicago and beyond.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 12 is a landmark date in blues history—a day where politics, culture, and legendary artists intersect. This episode explores how the founding of the NAACP protected early blues musicians on the road, why Abraham Lincoln’s birthday became a reminder of freedom still out of reach, and how Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue pushed the blue note into high society.

We spotlight the birthdays of Piedmont great Pink Anderson and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and reflect on the passing of Delta master Ishmon Bracy and the theatrical trailblazer Screaming Jay Hawkins. Together, their stories show how February 12 captures the blues as a force that shaped America and influenced music worldwide.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 11th traces a straight line from the first legal Black resistance in colonial America to Bessie Smith’s breakthrough and the streets of Memphis. We begin in 1644 New Amsterdam, where eleven enslaved Africans petitioned for—and won—their freedom, creating the “Land of the Blacks” and setting an early precedent for legal resistance inside a hostile system. Centuries later, in 1990, Nelson Mandela walks free after 27 years in prison, a living embodiment of the liberation themes long carried in spirituals, blues, and jazz.

We then move to Memphis, 1968. After sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker are killed in a faulty garbage truck, more than 700 of their coworkers gather on February 11 to vote to strike. Their “I Am a Man” signs transform a labor dispute into a demand for basic humanity and draw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the city—while the soul and blues of Stax Records become the movement’s soundtrack.

On the musical side, February 11, 1923, marks Bessie Smith’s first recording session for Columbia, cutting “Downhearted Blues” and selling nearly 800,000 copies. That single proves the blues is not just folk expression but a major commercial force, opening the door for artists to make a living telling hard truths on record.

We round out the date with the lives tied to it: Josh White, the Piedmont bluesman who turned his guitar into a weapon for justice; Otis Clay and Little Johnny Taylor, who helped carry the music from Delta grit into urban soul and R&B; Whitney Houston, whose church‑rooted voice stands on that same foundation; and Nashville session great Jerry Kennedy, who blurred the lines between country and R&B. February 11th emerges as a day where courts, picket lines, and recording studios all echo the same message: the blues is resistance set to music.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 10th is a hinge date where the blues steps into the mainstream, the law catches up—partly—to the music’s demand for dignity, and key architects of the sound enter and exit the story. We start in 1964, when the U.S. House of Representatives passes the Civil Rights Act, the beginning of the end for the segregated touring map that kept B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and countless others confined to the Chitlin’ Circuit and the back doors of the venues they filled.

Then we jump to 1979, when The Blues Brothers’ version of “Soul Man” hits the Billboard Top 20. What began as a comedy act becomes a Trojan horse for Memphis and Chicago soul—smuggling Duck Dunn, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Aretha Franklin, and John Lee Hooker into suburban living rooms and giving a second wind to veteran careers. It’s the moment the blues “went Hollywood and actually won,” proving it could survive—and thrive—inside modern mass media.

We trace the lives tied to this date: Dave Van Ronk, the “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” whose February 10, 2002 passing closes the chapter on the folk‑blues bridge that carried Delta songs into Greenwich Village and onto Bob Dylan’s setlists; and Steve Cropper, who dies on February 10, 2026— the Stax Records guitarist and co‑writer of “In the Midnight Hour” and “Soul Man,” leaving a poetic symmetry with that 1979 chart climb.

Along the way, we nod to the foundations: Chick Webb, born this day in 1905, whose hard‑swinging drums underpinned jump blues and early R&B; Larry Adler, born 1914, who proved the “pocket piano of the blues”—the harmonica—belonged on the world’s grandest stages; and Buddy Tate, the Texas tenor torchbearer whose 2001 passing marks another link in the chain gone. February 10th emerges as a day where law, charts, and individual genius all intersect to keep the blues alive, amplified, and undeniable.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 9th marks a turning point where the blues loops back into American culture, fuels political change, and evolves from rural porch music into an urban force. In 1964, 73 million viewers watched the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, unknowingly witnessing the “re‑importation” of the blues as British bands sent American teenagers searching for Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and the Chicago masters who shaped them.

The date also sits at the heart of the Civil Rights era: in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met with President Lyndon Johnson to strategize the Voting Rights Act, giving political voice to the dignity long expressed in Delta blues. But February 9 also recalls darker moments—like Senator McCarthy’s 1950 Red Scare speech, which blacklisted folk‑blues artists who dared to speak out.

Musically, the day captures key transitions: Big Bill Broonzy’s 1932 recordings bridging country blues and city grit, and Elvis Presley’s 1957 chart‑topping momentum signaling the shift from pop‑blues to raw rock and roll.

We also mark the births of bassist Walter Page, inventor of the walking bassline, and Chicago soul star Major Lance, alongside the passings of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens and the velvet‑voiced Tyrone Davis.

February 9th stands as a snapshot of the blues in motion—crossing oceans, shaping politics, and carrying the music from front porches to city streets and global stages.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 8th traces the blues from survival code to social justice soundtrack and global rock foundation. We start in 1915 with the premiere of The Birth of a Nation, a racist propaganda film that pushed Black communities into constant vigilance and turned early Delta blues into coded music of survival—songs that said one thing on the surface and another underneath.

We then move to 1968 and the Orangeburg massacre in South Carolina, when police killed three students protesting a segregated bowling alley. In the wake of that tragedy, the blues grew a sharper edge, shifting from juke‑joint escape to “justice joint” advocacy and paving the way for soul blues artists to speak truth to power.

Along the way, February 8th spotlights key musical figures and turning points: the 1899 birth of Lonnie Johnson, who turned the guitar into a true lead voice with single‑note solos; Eddie “Guitar” Burns, who carried Mississippi mud to Detroit’s Motor City; and the 1956 hit “See You Later Alligator,” a Bobby Charles blues tune that became a Bill Haley rock and roll smash—an example of how Black architects built the house while others got their names on the deed.

We close with Marvin Sease, who died on February 8, 2011—a Chitlin’ Circuit giant whose raw, funny, and scandalous shows kept Southern blues alive long after mainstream radio moved on. February 8th stands as a reminder that the blues is resilience in motion: coded, borrowed, electrified, and always rooted in the full, messy human experience.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

February 7th marks the moment the blues stepped into the historical spotlight, the global stage, and the electric future. In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week, creating the first national space where the stories behind the blues could be recognized as essential American history.

Fast‑forward to 1964: the Beatles land at JFK, openly praising Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, forcing a segregated America to confront—and finally value—its own blues heritage.

The date also captures key musical turning points: Johnny Dodds’ 1929 Chicago recordings shifting from New Orleans improvisation to the hard, driving pulse of Chicago blues, and Little Richard’s 1956 “Long Tall Sally,” where pure R&B plugged straight into rock and roll.

We celebrate the 1934 births of Earl King and King Curtis—regional giants who shaped New Orleans R&B and Texas tenor sax—and remember the 1959 passing of Guitar Slim, the flamboyant, distortion‑driven pioneer who redefined what a blues guitar hero could be.

February 7th stands as a crossroads where history, fandom, and raw sonic power pushed the blues into new eras and new ears.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

This episode traces February 6th as a date where exile, protest, and musical reinvention all converge in the story of the blues. We begin in 1820 with the departure of the ship Elizabeth—the “Mayflower of Liberia”—carrying 86 free African Americans toward Sierra Leone. That voyage planted the early seeds of spiritual restlessness, the feeling of being a stranger in one’s own land, a theme that would echo through field hollers and later shape the urban laments of Chicago blues.

We then move to 1961 and the “jail no bail” protest in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where SNCC leaders like Diane Nash joined the Friendship 9 in refusing to pay fines for a lunch‑counter sit‑in. Their decision to sit in jail rather than bend to an unjust system mirrors the resilience at the heart of the blues—a refusal to break, even when the world demands it.

From there, February 6th becomes a map of musical evolution. In 1936, Bumblebee Slim records “Hard Rocks in My Bed,” a gritty Depression‑era track that bridges the piano‑driven blues of the 1920s with the electrified Chicago sound to come. In 1913, Bob Geddins is born in Texas; after moving to Oakland, he builds the West Coast blues from the ground up, crafting classics like “Tin Pan Alley” and proving the blues had a home far beyond the Delta. And in 1958, a teenage George Harrison joins the Quarrymen—setting in motion the Beatles’ rise as global ambassadors who would introduce Muddy Waters and other American blues giants to audiences who might never have heard them otherwise.

We close by honoring the losses tied to this date: Irish guitar titan Gary Moore, whose ferocious playing showed the blues could fill stadiums, and “Microwave” Dave Gallagher, a cornerstone of the Alabama scene and a tireless educator devoted to keeping the craft alive. February 6th stands as a reminder that the blues is a journey—across oceans, across eras, and across generations—carried by people who refused to let the music or the truth behind it fade.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.

In this episode, we land on February 5th—a date that traces the blues from broken promises in the cotton fields to boundary‑breaking sessions in New York studios. We start in 1866 with Thaddeus Stevens’ failed attempt to grant 40 acres to freed families, and follow how that defeat forced Black Southerners into the debt trap of sharecropping—the “pressure cooker” where field hollers hardened into the blues as an emotional escape from unkept American promises. Then we jump to 1917, when the Immigration Act choked off foreign labor, opening Northern factory doors and fueling the Great Migration that carried the music from acoustic front porches to the electrified clubs of Chicago.

From there, the calendar turns into a studio log. In 1953, Willie Mabon cuts “I’m Mad” in Chicago, taking the city’s sound in a cooler, jazz‑tinged direction that still tops the R&B charts. In 1962, Ray Charles walks into Capitol Studios to begin Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, proving that the “high lonesome” of country and the “worried mind” of the blues are two sides of the same coin—and that genre lines are meant to be crossed.

We also trace the lives tied to this date: Memphis jug band leader Will Shade, who helped define Beale Street’s 1920s sound; Al Kooper, whose work with the Blues Project helped bridge Chicago blues into the ’60s rock counterculture; Chicago guitarist Kenneth “Buddy” Scott, the lifeblood of Westside clubs when the blues slipped off the mainstream radar; and blues shouter Piney Brown, who carried the fire from the swing era into the R&B explosion. February 5th emerges as a full arc in miniature—from dusty promises and forced labor to city lights, crossover hits, and revival scenes—showing how the blues keeps turning hard history into enduring truth.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective - your home for EVERYTHING BLUES.

Website: https://www.theblueshotel.com.au/

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.