This Week In The Blues: January 25 – January 31, 2026

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of January 25 – January 31, 2026.

Some of the highlights include the “King of the Slide Guitar" Elmore James, blues guitarist Jonny Lang, and my favorite Clarksdale resident blues harp legend Charlie Musselwhite .

Keep in mind that there's so much more that happened this week in the blues. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:
https://bigtrainblues.com
https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Photo credits (if known) and past episodes are posted on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@BigTrainBlues

Here are links to a few of the artists or songs we've referenced in this week's episode:

Elmore James - "Dust My Broom" - https://youtu.be/5jcGY7NbaQw?si=yq7Hu0JznS2hohfF

Charlie Musselwhite Live - "Full Set - New Orleans 2022" - https://youtu.be/QSNyn2TIFaU?si=blOgkBUxCYrBz1am

Join me every weekday from 12:15pm-12:45pm CT to watch a live stream on Facebook of the longest running blues radio show program. https://www.facebook.com/DeltaCulturalCenter

We’ll have a new episode next week – we’ll see you then!

ARE YOU A FAN OF BLUES HISTORY? US TOO!

 If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:

     https://bigtrainblues.com

     https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Transcript

Blind Willie Johnson was born January 25, 1897, in Pendleton, Texas, and became a towering figure in gospel blues. Blending blues expressiveness with sacred themes, he mastered bottleneck slide guitar, strongly influencing Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf. His haunting technique, often using a knife or ring as a slide, is showcased on the landmark “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” Between 1927 and 1930 he recorded 30 influential sides, including “John the Revelator.” Despite strong record sales, Johnson lived in poverty and died in 1945 after illness worsened by exposure following a house fire.

Elmore James was born January 27, 1918 and is widely hailed as the “King of the Slide Guitar”. He is the most influential slide guitarist of the postwar era. His electrified reworking of Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” became a defining blues lick, earning induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Known for his raw, distorted amp sound and emotionally explosive vocals, James shaped modern blues and rock guitar. He died of a heart attack in Chicago in 1963, just before a European tour.

D.C. Minner was born January 28, 1935, in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, and became a cornerstone of Oklahoma blues. Raised around his grandmother’s juke joint, he absorbed blues and gospel early, later learning guitar while in the Army. By the early 1960s he backed major artists including Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed and played with Freddy King. Returning home in 1988, Minner and his wife Selby founded the Down Home Blues Club and the Dusk ’til Dawn Blues Festival, becoming educators and cultural anchors. Minner died May 6, 2008.

Jonny Lang, born January 29, 1981, in Fargo, North Dakota, burst onto the blues scene as a teenage prodigy with a voice far older than his years. After joining Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang, his 1997 major-label debut Lie to Me brought national fame, followed by Wander This World and a Grammy nomination. Lang continued evolving, blending soul and gospel on Long Time Coming and the Grammy-winning Turn Around. Touring with legends from B.B. King to the Rolling Stones, Lang remains a powerful fusion of blues tradition, faith, and modern fire.

Samantha Fish was born January 30, 1989, in Kansas City, Kansas. She is a dynamic guitarist and songwriter whose music blends blues with rock, funk, country, and soul. Starting on drums before switching to guitar at 15, she drew early inspiration from Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Rolling Stones. Her 2009 live album Live Bait led to a Ruf Records deal and the Girls with Guitars project. Fish broke through with Runaway in 2011, winning the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist and continuing to earn major accolades for her powerful, genre-crossing work.

My favorite Clarksdale resident Charlie Musselwhite, was born January 31, 1944. He is a towering figure of postwar blues and one of the great harmonica masters. Raised in Mississippi and forged in Chicago’s South Side scene, he learned directly from legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Emerging in the early 1960s alongside Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, Musselwhite helped bring authentic Chicago blues to a wider audience. A prolific bandleader and collaborator, he has recorded more than 20 albums, won multiple Grammy Awards, and continues touring, proving the blues is still very much alive.

Roosevelt Sykes, born January 31, 1906, was a joyful force in blues and boogie-woogie piano, proving the blues could swing, grin, and misbehave. Nicknamed “Honeydripper,” Sykes delivered romping barrelhouse rhythms and sly double-entendre lyrics on classics like “44 Blues,” “Driving Wheel,” and “Night Time Is the Right Time.” Beginning his career in the late 1920s, he recorded prolifically across multiple labels and eras, scoring R&B hits in the 1940s. A pre- and postwar mainstay, Sykes remained a New Orleans favorite until his death on July 17, 1983.

Well blues fans, we just covered some of the highlights here. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to follow our social media pages or just go out and visit our website at Big Train Blues.com. We’ll have a brand new episode next week and it’s going to be a great show, so…we’ll see you then!