12-Bar Talk: A Blues Podcast

Episode 2: Blues in Britain, A Conversation with Dr. Roberta Schwartz

When we think of the blues in Europe, one of the first places our minds wander are the famous blues festivals in Great Britain that brought international attention to blues greats like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. But there is more to the story than the festivals. Dr. Roberta Schwartz, Director of the Musicology Division of the University of Kansas and the advising director of the KU Archive of Recorded Sound joins us to give us some of the backstory and the behind-the-scenes of the music scene in the UK as we discuss her book How Britain Got the Blues: the Transmission and Reception of American Blues Styles to the British Isles (Ashgate, 2007), which won the 2008 Association of Recorded Sound Collections award for best historical writing on the blues. We also discuss her current project about the Chicago or “hokum” blues of the 1930s. 
 
Link to Purchase How Britain Got the Blues: https://www.amazon.com/How-Britain-Got-Blues-Transmission/dp/0754655806
 
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
 
Guest: Dr. Roberta Freund Schwartz
 
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/.

Episode 1: A Local Dance Restart

In this episode, we discuss the importance of, and struggles that come with, restarting local dance scenes. In an interview with Chicago blues dance organizer Tom DeGroh, Dr. Adams discusses how to navigate restarting, struggles in creating community in a post-covid world, the necessity of activism in dance communities that teach black dances and dance to blues music, and why it is important to rebuild a team rather than focus on singular organizers to do the work of community building. 
 
Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams
 
Guest: Tom DeGroh
 
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. 

12-Bar Talk Intro

Learn more about the blues and the people who listen to it in this new podcast with a focus on the evolution of blues music and the dances done to this uniquely American art form. 
Podcast intro music is Chicago Shuffle Blues, courtesy of JuliusH. Song can be found at https://pixabay.com/users/juliush-3921568/.
12-Bar Talk: A Blues Podcast, is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC.