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 ..read more

In our first episode of 2024, Dr. Chelsea Adams and musician Brother Yusef discuss blues, history, black experience in the United States, and why race is inextricable from the music, culture, and conversation surrounding blues and other forms of black music.    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guest: Brother Yusef  http://www.brotheryusef.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.&nbs ..read more

In our final episode of 2023, Dr. Chelsea Adams talks with Grand Rapids, MI organizer Andi Hansen about what it was like restarting a dance community post-pandemic, what the differences are between a dance scene and a dance community, and why that matters for community building, sustainability, and a sense of belonging both locally and regionally.    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guest: Andi Hansen   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 da ..read more

Anyone who loves music can likely tell you who their favorite DJ is, whether that's a radio DJ, club DJ, or dance DJ. In this episode, Dr. Chelsea Adams and DJ Steven Watkins discuss the art of DJing, what it takes to teach it, and how we evolve our understanding of what a DJ is and does for a dance floor in comparison to the choices we make when we DJ in other situations.    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guest: DJ Steven Watkins   Produced by Dr. Chelsea Adams   12-Bar Talk is supported by Salt City Blues, LLC, a blues dance event and education organization committed to b ..read more

The pandemic killed off many national events and intensive learning experiences offered across dance styles. In this episode, we discuss a unique, week-long intensive event called The Experiment, which has revived post-pandemic. Hear from the founders of The Blues Experiment and learn what it's all about and what it's offering, and why it's important to have spaces to explore what it means to be a dancer in many different contexts.   Link to Learn More about the Experiment: www.thebluesexperiment.com/ and www.thebalboaexperiment.com/    Host: Dr. Chelsea Adams   Guests: Dav ..read more

In this episode, Vicci Moore and Adamo Ciarallo discuss building up blues instruction, and blues festivals, in Europe. We talk about the importance of music and history, but also the importance of creating ways for small communities with fewer resources to have access to quality information and teaching and learning materials about the blues. You can find out more about their online platform, The Blues Room, and their other events in the links below that Adamo and Vicci have provided for this podcast:    The Blues Room thebluesroom.com Why do I exist? To make blues dancing acces ..read more

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 A ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more