Blues Moments in Time...

Join Kelvin Huggins as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of October 27th in blues history.

In this evocative episode of Blues Moments in Time, we journey through the layered legacy of October 27—a date that pulses with the lifeblood of the blues. From the birth of genre-defining artists like Henry Townsend and Sherman Robertson to the bittersweet duality of 1969, when Johnny Winter’s Second Winter dropped just as Muddy Waters suffered a serious car accident, this day captures the blues’ eternal dance between triumph and tragedy.

We trace the sonic echoes across decades, spotlighting album releases that span continents and styles—from Ten Years After’s British Blues Boom to Robert Finley’s raw, modern soul in 2023. Alongside these musical milestones, we explore how broader historical shifts—like the opening of the New York City subway—symbolize the migrations and transformations that carried the blues from Southern porches to global stages.

This episode is a time capsule of resilience, innovation, and emotional truth. October 27 isn’t just a date—it’s a crossroads where the blues breathes, breaks, and begins again.

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 Kelvin Huggins as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of October 26th in blues history.

How can one ordinary date hold so many extraordinary moments? In this compelling episode of Blues Moments in Time, host Kelvin Huggin explores October 26th as a pivotal day in the evolution of the blues—and by extension, the entire landscape of modern music. From Blind Lemon Jefferson’s foundational country blues to Mahalia Jackson’s gospel power, from Muddy Waters’ electrifying British debut to the Rolling Stones’ first demo, this episode traces a remarkable constellation of events that all unfolded on the same date.

Listeners will journey through key milestones: Bob Dylan’s first record deal, The Beatles’ royal recognition, and the quiet brilliance of songwriter Jesse May Robinson. The episode also honors promoter Bill Graham’s legacy and celebrates Wilbert Harrison’s joyful anthem “Kansas City.”

Through rich storytelling and historical insight, Kelvin Huggin reveals how October 26th became a sonic crossroads—where the blues sparked revolutions, crossed oceans, and rewrote the future of sound. As Kelvin reminds us, “The Blues isn't just history, it's a conversation across time.”

Tune in to discover how one date became a testament to the enduring power of the blues. Keep the blues alive.

Join Kelvin Huggins as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of October 25th in blues history.

We remember Little Mack Simmons, who left us on this day in 2000. Born in Twist, Arkansas alongside James Cotton, Mack's journey took him from the Delta to Chicago's Chess Records, through a five-year residency at Cadillac Baby's, and into owning his own club, The Zodiac Lounge. Then life happened—the ministry, prison, silence. But the blues called him home. His 1990s comeback albums proved you can't kill what's real. His version of "St. James Infirmary" still haunts anyone who hears it.

We also celebrate the 82nd birthday of Corky Siegel, the harmonica-playing pianist who asked a dangerous question: What if the blues could talk to a symphony? In 1968, conductor Seiji Ozawa heard something in Siegel's sound and brought him to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The result shattered every boundary—blues meeting Beethoven, street music becoming concert hall gold, even winning France's Grand Prix du Disque.

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 Kelvin Huggins as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of October 23rd in blues history.

October 24 stands tall in blues history—a date that connects the raw genius of the rural South to stages around the world. We celebrate the birth of harmonica legend Sonny Terry in 1911, whose whooping, hollering harmonica could make you hear trains screaming through the Georgia night and hound dogs on the chase. Born Saunders Terrell in Greensboro, blinded by tragedy, he turned his instrument into a voice that could laugh, cry, and howl with pure joy and pure pain.

But this date gives us more than one story. In 1962, James Brown recorded Live at the Apollo, building an electric bridge between soul and blues that changed music forever. We lost Fats Domino on this day in 2017, remembering how he brought blues-rooted rock and roll into every living room in America. And we'll trace the thread from the Delta all the way to Australia, where October blues festivals keep this living tradition alive in the Southern Hemisphere spring.

From Sonny Terry's forty-year partnership with Brownie McGhee to Carnegie Hall and Broadway, from juke joints to the global stage—this is the story of October 24, when blues became the world's 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 Kelvin Huggins as he dives deep into the tangled roots and resonant echoes of October 23rd in blues history.

From the floorboard-shaking barrelhouse piano of Rufus "Speckled Red" Perryman to the raw zydeco rhythms of Boozoo Chavis, we celebrate two musical pioneers born on this day—each a vital voice in the genre’s sprawling family tree.

But the blues isn’t just music—it’s resistance. We mark the 1962 launch of the FBI’s COMINFIL operation, a surveillance campaign aimed at silencing Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. The broadcast explores how blues artists marched, sang, and suffered alongside the movement, their songs becoming the soundtrack of struggle.

Finally, we turn to the 1960s folk blues revival, where forgotten legends like Son House and Mississippi John Hurt were rediscovered—but not without tension. The episode unpacks the bittersweet dynamic of appreciation and exploitation, recognition and erasure.

This isn’t just a history lesson—it’s a meditation on the ongoing flow of blues through time, through generations, through changing audiences and unchanging truths.

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.