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A conversation with country-folk-rocker Robert Earl Keen is easy and enjoyable. He'll "go on forever" about many topics, including his music, how he lobbies Congress on behalf of musicians, and his friends Lyle Lovett and Joe Ely. But he was especially animated this day talking about children and classical music in his home state of Texas.

Thornetta Davis is known as "Detroit's Queen of the Blues." Her childhood was anything but royal. "My mom raised four girls with the help of my grandmother," said Davis. "It was an upbringing of turmoil .... my father was an alcoholic and quite violent. When my mother got out of that situation, that's when I feel I started to live."

The line " I just want to make music and friends/Been that way since I was 12 years old " is from "Music and Friends" off Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band's recent "So Delicious" album. Hearing the words fed back to Josh"Reverend" Peyton elicits a smile from the trio's founder.

As a teen phenom growing up in a city many consider the Mecca of blues and soul music, Eric Gales didn't quite understand what he was absorbing. "Growing up in Memphis had an impact on me in ways I didn't realize until later in life," said Gales. "It was a big part of growing up there. A lot of blues and other styles were there. And now it's grown into a whole lot of other styles. I am very proud to have come from Memphis, but there are many other styles attributed to the city."

WGLT picked up a coveted "Keeping The Blues Alive" award presented by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee. GLT Morning Edition host and Music Director Jon Norton accepted the award for the station during the KBA awards luncheon February 3 at the Doubletree Hotel in Memphis. The ceremony coincided with the annual week-long "International Blues Challenge," where musicians from around the world compete for cash, prizes, and industry recognition.

"Hurricane" Ruth LeMaster came to music through her parents. Her father was a trumpet player who fell under the spell of all kinds of music, including Dixieland, blues, jazz, big band, R&B and bluegrass. As a young girl she absorbed that music, as well as the different sounds from the Friday night jam sessions along the Illinois river during the summers in her hometown of Beardstown, Illinois.

Rocking through what is now album 10 in a 30 year career with the legendary Alligator Records, Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials show no sign of slowing down. Though not as nimble as when he regularly performed back bends and toe walks, the energy and crunching houserockin' blues Lil' Ed Williams and his bandmates generate is as authentic as their late label mate Hound Dog Taylor. Reflecting on those three decades of recording and performing, Williams said he has lived his dream. “The funny

Danielle Nicole said flying solo after 15 years with her sibling band "Trampled Underfoot" had her a bit nervous. But when critical raves and a Blues Blast Music Award for her debut album "Wolf Den" rolled in, she said it was validating. "There was a lot of skepticism when "Trampled Underfoot" broke up and we went our separate ways. Our fans said we were so great together and wondered how we're going to do this apart. So it was pretty cool to be well received and to especially be nominated at

Pierre Lacocque is especially geeked about Mississippi Heat's just released album "Cab Driving Man." But to be fair, he was especially geeked about the band's last recording, 2014's "Warning Shot."

“Big Head Todd and the Monsters” built an audience for their rock/alt/pop/jam sound over 30+ years of touring, even landing a few songs and albums on Billboard magazine’s music charts. But blues music has always been near and dear to band leader Todd Mohr, even if straight-up blues songs haven’t been part of their recorded output. “I’m a lifetime blues lover. I fell in love with John Lee Hooker when I was 13 years old” said Mohr. “I just built my life around blues and rhythm and blues music … it

When Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess died October 18 at age 95, it was another opportunity to wax nostalgic about a fertile era of independent U.S. record companies. From the early 1950’s through the late 1960’s, the Chicago based blues label and its peer independents Atlantic, Sun, and Stax Records, produced and sold millions of recordings of some of America’s greatest roots music.

Beth Hart is teasing fans ahead of the release of her new album with the iTunes and Spotify release of the title track. "Fire On The Floor" is another smoldering blues ballad, a style that has become her calling card. "Fire On The Floor" might be even more intense than her 2012 Kennedy Center Awards performance of "I'd Rather Go Blind" with Jeff Beck. When asked for a preview of other songs on her upcoming album, Hart said she took a different approach to songwriting on "Fire On The Floor."

"Georgia Songbird" E.G. Kight talks with GLT's Jon Norton.

Dave Weld is one of the founding members of the Chicago Blues Band Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials . But his Chicago Blues history dates back to his time with Ed's uncle, the now legendary bluesman J.B. Hutto. On this edition of GLT's Talkin Blues, Weld talks to Jon Norton about meeting Hutto and other blues artists when he ventured from white clubs on Chicago's north side to the black clubs on the city's "grittier" west side.

As one of the top blues harmonica players in the world, Chicago area native Bob Corritore travels the world playing the music he learned to love as a teenager growing up in Wilmette. Now living in Phoenix, Corritore also owns "The Rhythm Room," a club specializing in blues and roots music. Corritore also has a regular blues show on a Phoenix radio station, and is an enthusiastic blues ambassador and historian. On this edition of GLT's Talkin' Blues, Corritore talks to Jon Norton about hearing

Shaun Murphy returns to central Illinois to perform at the 2016 Blues Blast Music Awards September 23 at the Fluid Events Center in Champaign. Murphy is nominated for Female Blues Artist, a category she won in 2012 when GLT Blues Radio broadcast the awards show live from Buddy Guys Legends in Chicago. In addition to fronting her own band, Murphy has a distinguished music background. She was co-lead vocalist of Little Feat for 16 years, as well as background singer for notable names including

At this time last year, Walter Trout was still re-gaining his strength following a liver transplant the year prior. Today Trout sounds strong and happy to be alive. When a 16 year old recording of a performance at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival was brought to his attention, specifically his aside saying he was appreciating his mortality more than ever as friends and family were beginning to die, Trout took a deep breath and said "I feel right now even more that every day is a bonus, every breath

Miami bluesman Albert Castiglia returns to central Illinois early next month, and this time he's touring on what critics are calling his finest album. Castiglia says he agrees with with what his critics are saying about the album titled "Big Dog," and credits the albums producer Mike Zito. "Because Mike and I are cut out of a similar cloth musically, and we both grew up listening to blues and rock music made it a good pairing. There's an edge to this album. Mike dialed in my guitar sound. When

One of the founding members of the early 1980's Rockabilly revival group "The Stray Cats" will headline the GLT Summer Concert June 11. Double-bassist Lee Rocker has had a successful career of his own following the bands breakup. Despite being the son of acclaimed clarinetists Stanley and Naomi Drucker, and brother to country music artist Rosanne Drucker, Rocker said from an early age, his ears were tuned to rockabilly and blues music.

Boogie-woogie pianist Eden Brent will grace the GLT Summer Concert stage June 11. The Greenwood, Mississippi native has been immersed in blues music since she met the much older Aibe "Boogaloo" Ames when she was a teen. "Boogaloo was a fixture here in the delta. He enjoyed quite a successful career from the middle 1940's through the 1960's in Detroit. First as a jazz piano player, and swing player with his own band in the 40's. Up until the mid 60's he did some work with Barry Gordy at the