Talking Blues

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Talking Blues

Founder, Host & Archivist — Talking Blues🎙️
Blues interviews documenting voices, lineage, and lived experience. Hosted by Matt Cooper.

04/18/2026

Head down. Let it play.

There’s a stretch of formative years where the music doesn’t just land… it locks in.

For me, that signal came through
Led Zeppelin—already carrying the Blues in its DNA—and the ’80s weekly run of "The Song Remains the Same" at the Roxy.

That was the doorway.

For others, it started somewhere else—
a Blues record, a back porch, a basement turntable.

Different entry points. Same outcome.

All roads lead to the Blues.

03/07/2026

In my conversation with blues historian and musician Bruce Conforth, we got talking about the 1961 Robert Johnson LP, *King of the Delta Blues Singers*.

Bruce described hearing it as something almost otherworldly.

Then he said something simple and powerful:

“That’s when it happened. … I want to be able to do that.”

That record hit a generation of musicians hard — Bruce, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, John Hammond Jr., whom we just lost. R.I.P. JH — and countless others.

What struck me most was that we weren’t just talking about an album. We were talking about the moment a record changes a life.

We also got into the harder side of the Robert Johnson story — abandonment, myth, the brutal physical reality of his death, and Bruce’s long mission to recover the man from the folklore.

That, to me, is the value of these conversations.

Not promotion.
Preservation.

The blues moves through lineage — record to hand, player to player, story to story.

And every now and then, if you’re lucky, someone who stood close to that chain helps you hear it clearly.

**Listen to the Bruce Conforth episode here:**
https://rss.com/podcasts/talkingblues/2091035

02/26/2026

Welcome to the Talking Blues Archive.

Talking Blues is an archival interview series preserving the voices and lived experience of Blues artists.

These conversations are recorded and released as part of the Talking Blues Podcast and serve as a permanent historical record of the artists who carry the tradition forward.

The archive was recently recognized by The Sound Cafe for its contribution to documenting Canadian Blues history.

New archive interviews are released regularly.

02/09/2026

A piece crossed my desk this week that finally says out loud what most working musicians live with quietly.

Long drives. Short sets. Real costs. Uncertain pay. Bodies that wear down. Love for the music that keeps winning anyway.

This isn’t a complaint piece. It’s recognition.

If you’re a musician still showing up — loading in, tuning up, playing your heart out whether the room is full or half-empty — this is for you.

The blues was never about nostalgia.
It was about telling the truth and carrying on.

If you’re a musician, drop a comment:
Where you play.
How long you’ve been at it.
Or just say: still here.

If you love live music, tag someone who keeps doing the work.

We see you.
We respect you.
The music continues because you do.

01/30/2026

Adam Gussow didn’t study the blues first—he survived them.

Before the books, the classroom, and the professor’s chair at Ole Miss, Adam Gussow came up on the streets of Harlem—playing harmonica alongside the late Mister Satan. That lived experience didn’t just shape his sound; it shaped a lifetime of thinking, writing, and teaching about what the blues really mean.

In this episode of Talking Blues, Adam Gussow traces the long road from busking corners to becoming one of the most thoughtful voices in blues culture. We talk about his books, his teaching, the humour that keeps you grounded, and why the blues still matter in a world that feels increasingly disconnected.

Thoughtful. Grounded. Deeply human.

🎧 Listen now:
https://www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com

—or wherever you get your podcasts.

If this conversation stayed with you, you’re welcome backstage.
Join the free Talking Blues Backstage Pass at https://www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com

01/23/2026

The Blues didn’t come from myth.
It came from people, places, pressure—and record.

Episode Two of *Talking Blues* features **Bruce Conforth**—ethnomusicologist, lifelong bluesman, and co-author (with Gayle Dean Wardlow) of *Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson*.

That book—built on more than fifty years of documents, recordings, and oral histories—dismantles the crossroads myth and replaces it with a more complex, brilliant, and human Robert Johnson.

In this conversation, **Bruce and I** talk about Robert Johnson in a way he’s never approached publicly before—not as a symbol or legend, but as a working musician shaped by circumstance, community, and choice.

Along the way, we touch on Reverend Gary Davis, the folk revival, the cultural shifts of the 1960s, and why authenticity still matters when stories harden into myth.

This episode doesn’t chase legend.
It listens for what’s true.

01/17/2026

If you’re new here—welcome.

Talking Blues explores the Blues condition: the lives, pressures, and moments that give rise to the music.

Episode One features Bob Margolin, longtime guitarist with Muddy Waters—a player who lived the music from the inside.

It’s a good place to start if you want to understand what this show is, how we listen, and why the long road matters.

12/22/2025

This article lands in the same place we try to live on Talking Blues—
slow conversations, real context, and respect for the lineage.

Link in comments.

10/22/2025

Over 4,600 Blues Lovers and Counting —💙
What started with one simple question about your favorite blues song has grown into a full-on community of stories, memories, and soul. 💙 It's good to have YOU with us.

If you didn’t know, that same spirit lives on in the 🎙️ *Talking Blues Podcast* — where I [Matt Cooper] sit down with blues legends and lifers like **Bob Margolin**, **Jerry Mercer**, **Adam Gussow and **Bruce Conforth**to dig into the heart of the music.

👉 **You can listen anytime at [TalkingBluesPodcast.com](https://TalkingBluesPodcast.com)** or on your favorite podcast platform.

Now your turn — what was your *first real blues experience*? The moment the sound hit you and never quite let go? 🎸🔥

Drop your story below — I read every one. 😎🎙️🎸🤙

09/30/2025

She’s the First Lady of Canadian Blues. On Talking Blues, Erin McCallum proves it—voice, grit, and the truth hidden between the lines.

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Kawartha Lakes, ON

Website

http://www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com/, https://www.thesoundcafe.com/post/amplifying-the-voices-of-canadian-blues-matt-coop

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