🎤 Danny Boy Phelan – Carrying the Flame of Front-Porch Blues

Some players chase the blues. Danny Boy Phelan seems to have been born with it stitched into his soul.

A gentle old soul from St. Catharines, Ontario, Danny channels the ghosts of the Delta with a rawness that’s hard to fake and harder to forget. His voice carries dust, hope, and history in equal measure—and his command of banjo, harmonica, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar makes him a one-man front porch revival.

Danny is a Niagara Music Award nominee in the Blues category, a musician’s musician, and a storyteller who doesn’t just sing about the old days—he takes you there. On this episode of Talking Blues, we dig deep into:

• The personal hardships and working-class conditions that shaped his worldview
• The emotions that rose up from those moments—and how they live in his voice
• The deep well of influence he draws from—Delta blues, gospel, folk, and early radio sounds
• And how his blues expression—rooted in honesty and feel—continues to evolve

Soft-spoken and wildly talented, Danny works with DeShaun Jones at Mango Tree Music / Taylor Made Management, surrounding himself with folks who know artistry when they hear it. And if you’ve ever been in the room when he plays, you’ll know why.

👉 Listen Now on TalkingBluesPodcast.com

🔗 Connect with Danny:

📘 Facebook 📸 Instagram 🎵 Bandcamp

🎁 Support His Music Grab his new EP Live at the Leopard Frog Barn and stay tuned for live shows, rare sessions, and limited-run merch.

🎙️ Connect with Matt Cooper – Host & Broadcaster of the Talking Blues Podcast

🧢 Personal Facebook 🎧 Talking Blues Podcast on Facebook 🌐 Website

🎧 Listen to the episode. Get the Talking Blues Backstage Pass. 👉 www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com

🎙️ Vince Lee: Blues Roots, British Grit

Vince Lee didn’t wake up one day with a slide and a following. He built it—over decades, one gig, one guitar, one groove at a time. Before leading bands like The Big Combo and The Wildcards, he was grinding it out in working bands, soaking up everything he could from older players and long nights on stage.

We talk about those early days, the gear he’s picked up (and brought back to life), and how he found his way into frontman territory on his own terms. Vince has spent time behind the board too—producing sessions for other artists in years past—but these days, he records from home, just chasing sounds that feel good.

He and his partner Sophie Lord have a natural thing going—upright bass, fingerpicked guitar, no frills. Their videos are straight-up house concerts with heart. Millions of views, sure. But more than that, they’ve got feel.

🎧 Listen to the Talking Blues Podcast — Stream it now or wherever you podcast.

🎸 Connect with Vince Lee & Sophie Lord:

🌐 Website 📘 Facebook 📺 YouTube 🐦 X / Twitter 🎵 Bandcamp – Buy Music Directly

🎙️ Connect with Matt Cooper – Host & Broadcaster - Talking Blues Podcast

🧢 Personal Facebook 🎧 Talking Blues Podcast on Facebook 🌐 Website

If this conversation moved you or got you thinking, join the Talking Blues Backstage Pass at www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com. It’s free to join, and you’ll get early access, behind-the-scenes stories, and the chance to shape future episodes.

🎙️ Adam Gussow: Blues, Books & The Meaning of It All

Adam Gussow didn’t just play the blues—he lived it on the streets of Harlem, side by side with the late Mister Satan. That legendary partnership shaped not just his music but his life’s work. These days, he’s a harmonica master, a blues scholar, and a full professor down at Ole Miss.

In this episode, we get into the whole journey, from busking on corners to writing some of the most talked-about books in blues culture. Titles like Mister Satan’s Apprentice, Seems Like Murder Here, Beyond the Crossroads, and Whose Blues?—books that ask big questions about race, music, and identity without losing the soul of the story. His latest, My Family and I: A Mississippi Memoir, takes it even further, peeling back the layers on roots, conflict, and the search for meaning in the modern South.

We also talk shop: teaching the harp, finding humour in hard places, and why the blues still hits home in a world that feels more disconnected by the day.

Smart, soulful, and straight from the heart. 🎧 Stream the episode now at TalkingBluesPodcast.com or wherever you podcast.

Hit play, and then:

📖 Read My Family and I: A Mississippi Memoir – Available now on Amazon

🎼 Learn Harmonica at ModernBluesHarmonica.com – Lessons, tabs, and blues harp tutorials

🎵 Adam’s Harmonica of Choice – Hohner Marine Band – “I've been using it for 50 years.”

📲 Connect with Adam Gussow:

📘 Facebook 📺 YouTube – Modern Blues Harmonica 📺 YouTube – Classic Blues Harmonica Videos 🐦 X / Twitter

🎙️ Connect with Matt Cooper – Host & Broadcaster - Talking Blues Podcast

🧢 Personal Facebook 🎧 Talking Blues Podcast on Facebook 🌐 Website

🎙️ If this conversation moved you or got you thinking, join the Talking Blues Backstage Pass at www.TalkingBluesPodcast.com’s free to join, and you’ll get early access, behind-the-scenes stories, and the chance to shape future episodes.