12-Bar Talk: A Blues Podcast
Welcome to 12-Bar Talk, a blues music and dance podcast that covers blues history, current artists and trends, dances done to blues music, and more. Join Dr. Chelsea Adams as she interviews musicians, dancers, scholars, and delves into the myriad of topics that deal with this uniquely black American art form.
Episodes

Monday Jul 22, 2024
Monday Jul 22, 2024
Dr. Chelsea Adams interviews a premier musician from the Macon Music scene, Angel “Cash” Ocasio, Jr., founder of the band Cash's Juke Joint. They talk about the origins of the band, Angel's family upbringing and the importance of church in his life to shape his musical sound, and the power of the blues for the current generation of musicians to shape the future of the blues. You can find Cash's music on all platforms, and learn more at his website. The link to his newest music video is below.
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
Guest: Angel "Cash" Ocasio, Jr.https://www.cashsjukejoint.com/
Early in the Morning Official Video
Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams
12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to bringing education about black dances and blues to the Greater Salt Lake City area.
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.

Sunday Jul 07, 2024
Episode 11: Toward a Definition of the Blues
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
We often talk about the blues in vague and general terms: a feeling that you know when you have, a sound that a musician either has or doesn't. But what actually makes up this genre of music? In this episode, Dr. Chelsea Adams shares some of her scholarly research in a condensed format to help people reach a general shared understanding of a definition of the genre, with the hopes of working from that base to ultimately build a better definition with future podcast episodes.
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams
12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to bringing education about black dances and blues to the Greater Salt Lake City area.
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.

Sunday May 26, 2024
Sunday May 26, 2024
Dr. Chelsea Adams and Philly organizer and dancer Genevieve Senechal discuss Powerhouse Blues and Blues Muse, how to build community, and how to evolve events to fit community needs after a pandemic. This interview is from June 2023, and has been edited to reflect the delay in release.
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
Guest: Genevieve Senechal
www.bluesmuse.dance/
www.powerhousebluesphilly.com/
Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams
12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to bringing education about black dances and blues to the Greater Salt Lake City area.
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.

Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Episode 9: The Power of Community Mentorship, A Conversation with Erica Brown
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Award-winning musician Erica Brown talks with Dr. Adams about the power of community to lift up talent, how that influenced her career, and the importance of mentorship to continue to build and innovate in blues music.
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
Guest: Erica Brownhttps://www.ericabrownentertainment.com/
Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams
12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to bringing education about black dances and blues to the Greater Salt Lake City area.
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.

Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Episode 8: Musician Spotlight, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
In honor of Black History Month, Dr. Chelsea Adams gives a brief historical spotlight of famed, but often forgotten or marginalized blues singer and performer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, utilizing information from archives and a variety of sources, including the one official biography of Ma Rainey: Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey, written by Sandra Lieb.
Link to Biography
Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams
12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to bringing education about black dances and blues to the Greater Salt Lake City area.
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.

Welcome to 12-Bar Talk
Blues: it's a feeling, a state of being, a genre of music and an umbrella term for many black social dances, all with a rich history and thriving and evolving culture in the present. Join Dr. Chelsea Adams as she interviews practitioners and scholars and delves into the myriad of topics that deal with this uniquely black American art form.
You can support the 12-Bar Talk Podcast by subscribing anywhere you get your podcasts and by sharing it with friends and enthusiasts.
If you would like to be a guest on the podcast or have topic requests you'd like to see featured on the show, please contact Dr. Adams through her university email: chelseaadams1@weber.edu.