This week on Blues With A Feeling we’re taking a long, winding drive through the heart of the blues — from the red dirt roads of Texas to the electric back‑alleys of Chicago — and the whole night’s got that slow‑burning, wide‑sky feel about it.

We open with two sets of New Releases, eleven fresh cuts that prove the blues is still kicking dust and taking names in 2026. Chris O’Leary fires the starter’s pistol with Bad Decisions, all grit and groove. The Hussy Hicks slide in with a heart‑tugger, Gina Coleman tips her hat to Ida Cox with a deep, rolling Mail Man Blues, and Taj Mahal strolls through with the Phantom Blues Band like a man who’s seen a few jukeboxes in his time. The second set keeps the wheels turning — Mike Finnigan’s soulful Don’t Answer the Door, Selwyn Birchwood’s swamp‑funk sermon All Hail the Algorithm, Gabe Stillman’s Shame Shame, and Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials sliding in sideways on Cold Side of the Bed.

Then we settle in for the main event: Lightnin’ Hopkins, live in 1964, on Hootin’ the Blues. Eight tracks of pure Texas truth‑telling. Lightnin’ didn’t just play the blues — he talked it, lived it, breathed it. These recordings feel like you’ve pulled up a chair on his front porch in Centerville, the sun dropping low, Lightnin’ leaning back with that half‑smile, spinning stories only he could tell. Blues Is a Feeling, Me and Ray Charles, Ain’t It Crazy, Chain Gang — it’s all here, loose and alive.

From there we head north for a five‑song jolt from Junior Wells and the Chicago Blues Band, straight off Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 1. Junior and Buddy Guy sound like they’re trying to set the walls on fire — Help Me, Messin’ with the Kid, Vietcong Blues, and more.

We close with Laura Chavez, Alvin Youngblood Hart rolling down Highway 61, and the Parlour Greens easing us home.

A big Texas‑hearted night of blues — warm, dusty, electric, and alive.

 

 

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