Blues Moments in Time is a short‑form storytelling series highlighting the key moments and influential figures that shaped the blues. Each episode dives into one defining event — a spark, a struggle, or a breakthrough — that left a lasting impact on the music.
It reveals the deeper stories behind the history: the cultural changes, personal milestones, and pivotal shifts that helped define the blues.
What You’ll Hear.
- Defining Moments
- Artist Turning Points
- Cultural & Historical Context
- Short, Powerful Stories
All Episodes.
On this episode, we trace March 15 as a fault line in American blues history—where politics, faith, and sound collide. From LBJ’s “We Shall Overcome” speech and the Voting Rights Act, to Ray Charles’s “I’ve Got a Woman” redefining Black music, to the intertwined legacies of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Ry Cooder, we explore how the…
On this powerful episode of Blues Moments in Time, we trace the journey of the blues from the hardship of the Jim Crow South to the electrified streets of Chicago, uncovering how struggle gave rise to sound that changed the world. March 14 connects the dots between the Great Migration’s cultural upheaval and the personal…
On March 13, two very different front lines—Selma, Alabama and swinging‑London—revealed how deeply the blues runs through global culture. As civil rights marchers faced state violence to secure the vote in 1965, a young Eric Clapton walked away from pop stardom to chase the raw truth of Black blues music. This episode traces how the…
=Listener Discretion= This episode of Blues Moments in Time, includes historical discussion of racism and systemic injustice in the United States and may include the names and stories of people who are no longer with us.. We approach these topics in a factual, educational context, but listener discretion is advised. This episode traces how March…
From the Broadway debut of A Raisin in the Sun to the haunting whoop of Sonny Terry’s harmonica, March 11th is a day where the blues speaks the truth of the American experience. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] Introduction [00:46] The Cultural Landscape [01:27] The Political Climate [01:55] Exploring The Music [02:57]…
Today, we honour the legacy of Harriet Tubman, celebrate the birth of guitar great Ronnie Earl, and revisit the historic 1972 Gary Convention. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] Introduction [00:43] The Cultural Landscape [01:20] The Political Climate [01:56] Exploring The Music [02:26] Births [02:56] Passings [03:26] Conclusion KEY FIGURES…
Today on March 9, we follow the marchers back to the bridge in Selma, witness a historic legal victory for freedom in the Amistad case, and celebrate the New Orleans legend who gave us Lawdy Miss Clawdy. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] Introduction [00:43] The Cultural Landscape [01:10] The Political Climate [01:35] …
From the halls of the Senate to the gentle strings of Mississippi John Hurt, today we explore how March 8th shaped the soul of the blues. IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] Introduction [00:43] The Cultural Landscape [01:17] The Political Climate [02:01] Exploring The Music [02:31] Births [03:00] Passings [03:21] …
March 7 is where the blues steps onto the bridge—literally and metaphorically. From Bloody Sunday in Selma to the first commercial jazz record, from Townes Van Zandt’s haunted ballads to Lowell Fulson’s West Coast grit and Ali Farka Touré’s desert trance, this date reveals the blues as a transatlantic story of terror, tenderness, and the…
On March 6, the blues steps into history as both witness and verdict. From the Dred Scott decision’s brutal denial of Black humanity to Ghana’s first sunrise of independence a century later, and from Furry Lewis’s bottleneck slide to King Floyd’s New Orleans soul‑blues grooves, this date shows the blues as more than music—it’s a…