This Week In The Blues: April 05 - April 11, 2026

HEY BLUES FANS

Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of April 05 - April 11, 2026.

Some of the highlights include Arkansas blues guitarist and singer Larry McCray, Chicago blues guitarist “Little Ed” Williams, and blues singing powerhouse Shemekia Copeland.

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:

Lil Ed Williams with Mama Rosa's Blues All-Stars @ Rosa’s Lounge - https://www.youtube.com/live/KlH-8eZfExA?si=P315OYHaeMZPX9QA

Shemekia Copeland - "Blame It On Eve" (Live at AmericanaFest 2024) - https://youtu.be/qbzN_ql3270?si=3GsEBvO-27M6fR4w

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

ALSO - Consider joining the Blues Society of Oklahoma and helping them continue their mission - https://bluessocietyoklahoma.com/membership/

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

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 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

Arkansas blues guitarist and singer Larry McCray was born April 5, 1960. He is best known for blending traditional blues with rock and soul. Rising to prominence in the early 1990s, he later founded Magnolia Records and has continued touring and recording internationally, earning renewed acclaim with recent releases.

Legendary blues harmonica player Big Walter Horton was born April 6, 1921. He was known for shaping the Memphis and Chicago blues sound. Starting as a street performer in Memphis, he recorded with producer Sam Phillips in 1951 and later joined Muddy Waters’ band in Chicago. Celebrated for his powerful, expressive playing, Horton was called “the greatest harmonica player in the world” by Willie Dixon.

Louis “Mr. Bo” Collins was born April 7, 1932, in Indianola, Mississippi. This Delta blues guitarist and singer later worked in Chicago and Detroit. He honed his craft at house parties alongside musicians like John Lee Hooker and Boogie Woogie Red. By the late 1950s he adopted the stage name Mr. Bo and began recording, becoming known for his smooth guitar style and the original version of the blues classic “If Trouble Was Money,” co-written with his brother.

Chicago blues guitarist “Little Ed” Williams was born April 8, 1955. He is known for his fiery slide guitar style. He learned the blues from his uncle, legendary guitarist J.B. Hutto, and later formed the band Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials. The group has earned multiple Blues Music Award nominations for Band of the Year, and has won the honor twice. He’s built a reputation as one of Chicago blues’ most energetic live acts.

country blues guitarist Mance Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895, near Navasota, Texas. He spent most of his life working as a tenant farmer. Nicknamed “Mance,” short for emancipation, he taught himself guitar after his mother bought him one. Lipscomb developed his style by listening and watching other musicians and spent years performing at local gatherings and “Saturday night suppers,” becoming a respected figure in Texas blues tradition.

Shemekia Copeland was born April 10, 1979. This blues singing powerhouse is the daughter of Texas blues guitarist Johnny Copeland. She began performing as a child, making her first appearance at the Cotton Club around age ten. At sixteen she started pursuing music seriously, and her father later took her on tour as his opening act, helping launch her career on the blues circuit. Copeland graduated from Teaneck High School in New Jersey in 1997 and has since become one of the leading voices in modern blues.

The man often considered the originator of the Bentonia blues style, Henry Stuckey, was born in 1897 in Bentonia, Mississippi. After learning an open E-minor tuning during World War I, he brought the technique home and taught it to Skip James, helping shape the haunting Bentonia blues sound. Stuckey never recorded commercially, but his influence lived on through the musicians he taught. He died of cancer in 1966.

Alright blues fans, that’s your quick ride through this week in blues history. If you want to dig deeper into these artists and the stories behind the music, head over to BigTrainBlues.com where the archives are always open and the blues never closes. And don’t forget to follow us on social media so the blues keeps rolling all week long. We’ll be back next week with more legends, history, and stories. We’ll see you at the next stop.