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/.