January 1st isn’t just the start of a new year — it’s a crossroads in blues history. In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, Kelvin Huggins explores how a single date echoes across generations, marking three defining moments that shaped the music, the culture, and the people who carried the blues forward.

We begin with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the moment that planted the earliest seeds of the blues. It was a day of jubilee and a day of reckoning — a “complicated freedom” that mixed liberation with the long, painful struggle that followed. From cotton fields to Jim Crow, this tension became the emotional bedrock of the blues, the very soil from which its stories grew.

Next, we celebrate the birth of Gary “BB” Coleman in 1947 — a soul‑blues torchbearer whose late‑blooming career became a testament to perseverance. As an artist, producer, and mentor, Coleman kept the soul‑blues flame burning, shaping the sound of countless musicians and ensuring the tradition didn’t fade.

Finally, we reflect on the passing of Alexis Korner in 1984, the “founder of British Blues.” His passion and mentorship ignited the British Blues Explosion, inspiring the musicians who would carry the blues back across the Atlantic and reintroduce it to a new generation of American listeners.

Together, these three January 1st moments reveal a powerful truth: the blues is more than music. It’s history. It’s struggle. It’s resilience. And it’s the sound of people refusing to be silenced.

Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins

Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective

Keep the blues alive.

© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.