Keynote Speakers

Please check back for program updates and participant additions!

Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching. Neal has written and lectured extensively on black popular culture, black masculinity, sexism and homophobia in Black communities, and the history of popular music. Neal is the founder and managing editor of the blog NewBlackMan. Read More | Read Less


Zandria F. Robinson is Assistant Professor of Sociology and James and Madeleine McMullan Assistant Professor of Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. She has written on southern hip-hop and African American cultures in the post-Civil Rights South. She resides in Memphis with her daughter, Assata, age 8.



Stephanie Shonekan is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Black Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She earned her BA and MA degrees in Nigeria. In 1996, she enrolled in the PhD program in Ethnomusicology and Folklore at Indiana University Bloomington and minored in African American Studies. In her dissertation, One Life Two Voices: The Examination, Exploration, and Exposition of the Life of Camilla Williams, Soprano... Read More | Read Less

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Presenters, Featured Musicians and Special Guests

Billy Boy Arnold, a leading blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter has enjoyed a remarkable career spanning six decades. He lists among his many credits the landmark 1955 Chess hit single, Bo Diddley. As a young Blues artist in early 1950's Chicago, Billy Boy Arnold was befriended and inspired by Big Bill Broonzy, one of the 20th century's greatest musical icons. Now, 60 years later, Billy Boy has gathered together this generation of Chicago's best acoustic Blues players for the recording of Billy Boy Sings Big Bill. A Blues Legend in his own right, Billy Boy was a key figure on the incendiary Chicago Blues scene of the 1950's and a major influence on the British Blues scene of the 1960's.

George Bailey is a faculty member in the English Department of Columbia College Chicago. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He teaches Writing and Rhetoric I and II, and American Literature in that department as well. He has developed courses titles such as “The Slave Narrative as Documentary,”“Blues as literature,” and Postmodern Black Culture.”
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Lincoln T. Beauchamp, Jr., a.k.a. Chicago Beau is a Blues artist, record producer, writer, and publisher. He has made numerous Blues, Jazz and other genre recordings under his name, and in collaboration with other world class artists including Pinetop Perkins, Memphis Slim, SunnyLand Slim, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Billy Cobham, and Archie Shepp. Beau is Founding Editor and Publisher of Literati Chicago, Literati Internazionale, and the Original Chicago Blues Annual, Read More | Read Less


Scott M. Barretta is a principal writer and researcher for the Mississippi Blues Trail, a series of historic markers, the host of the radio program Highway 61 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and a folklorist for the Mississippi Arts Commission. He is the former editor of Living Blues Magazine, published by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, worked as a writer and consultant for the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, and is a freelance writer for many publications.

Rodney Brown started down his musical path at the age of 6. After 7 years of classical piano and 4 years of percussion, he began his love affair with the saxaphone. Influenced by legendary entertainers such as Eddie Harris, Von Freeman, Son Seals, James Moody, Dexter Gordan, Gene Ammons, Louie Jordan, Lou Rawls, Joe Williams, and Brook Benton among others, he continues to implement the sound of legends into his energetic interpretations of contemporary blues, jazz, and soul. Read More | Read Less


Sugar Blue, the Grammy award-winning harmonica virtuoso is not your typical bluesman. Born James Whiting, he was raised in Harlem, New York, where his mother was a singer and dancer at the fabled Apollo Theatre. He spent his childhood among the musicians and show people who knew his mother, including the great Billie Holiday, and decided that he wanted to be a performer.
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Billy Branch has followed a very non-traditional path to the blues. Unlike many blues artists, he isn't from the South. Billy was born in Chicago in 1951 and was raised in Los Angeles. He first picked up a harmonica at the age of ten and immediately began to play simple tunes. Billy returned to Chicago in the summer of '69 and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in political science. It was during these years that he was introduced to the Blues. Read More | Read Less


Wayne Baker Brooks, was born and raised in Chicago, IL amongst the most prolific blues legends and blues masters in the world, and his blues roots may run deeper and wider than the Great Lake Michigan itself. Chicago Blues laid the foundation to Wayne's innovative style. A regular visitor (as a child) at places such as Chess Studios, Checkerboard Lounge, Wisefools, and many other blues landmarks as well as witnessing many live performances by blues masters like Buddy Guy, Jr. Wells, Luther Allsion, KoKo Taylor, the great Muddy Waters, & his father. Read More | Read Less

Gil Cook is an Assistant Professor of English at Dominican University. Teaching in the English and Black World Studies departments, his courses include “African American Literature,” “Literature of the African Diaspora,” and “Black Women Writers.” He was a contributor for Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop’s Philosopher King (McFarland Press 2011) and has two articles under review with prominent literary journals. Now in his second year at Dominican, Gil is excited to be a part of the biennial Blues and the Spirit Symposium.

Carl 'CC' Copeland, on bass, keys and vocals, is a multi-talented performer with a wide-ranging repertory. Chicago-born and Ohio-raised, CC decided early on that the bass guitar would be his instrument of choice. Inspired by a number of R&B groups of the 70's, his blues-drummer uncle, and his grandmother who sang in the church choir, CC started working professionally just prior to graduating from high school. Read More | Read Less


Dorothy Coyle is the Executive Director of the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC), which promotes Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, provides innovative visitor programs and services, and presents free world-class public programs. For more than ten years, Coyle has guided efforts to boost Chicago’s popularity as a premier leisure destination, which attracts nearly 40 million visitors annually. Read More | Read Less


Marie Dixon, widow of blues legend Willie Dixon, is the CEO and President of the Blues Heaven Foundation, whose mission is to assist in the documentation and promotion of the Blues, supporting artists and educational initiatives. The foundation is located in the landmark Chess Records building, 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Dominican University’s Blues and the Spirit Symposium will honor Mrs. Dixon for her accomplishments and service with the 2012 Spirit Award.


Barry Dolins recently retired as the Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, where he captained the programming division for Chicago’s largest music festivals including such signature events as the Blues, Gospel and Jazz festivals as well as music festivals dedicated to Latin American and Celtic culture. Dominican University’s Blues and the Spirit Symposium recognized his accomplishments and service with the 2010 Spirit Award.

Deitra Farr began singing in the mid-1970s with various soul bands. At the age of 18, Farr recorded the lead vocals on "You Won't Support Me", with the Chicago group Mill Street Depo. That song made the Top 100 R&B list with Cashbox magazine. She began singing the blues in the early 1980s.
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Ernest L. Gibson III is an Assistant Professor of English at Rhodes College.  He received his Ph.D. in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and recently completed the Thurgood Marshall Fellowship at Dartmouth College in African and African American Studies.
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Robert Hanserd is a historian whose research focuses on Afro-Atlantic, African American and West African History, emphasizing maroon, free black and slave culture in the Americas. He completed his Ph.D. in History at Northern Illinois University in June of 2011. His work examines the transference of Akan views of history and freedom to America during the 18th century in Jamaica and New York.
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Fernando Jones, musician, actor and author of the book, I Was There When the Blues Was Red Hot, is the Director of Columbia College’s Blues Ensemble and the founder of the blues education initiative, Blues Kids of America.




Nick Krebs is a Master's student in American Studies at Purdue University where he focuses on the formation and transmission of cultural knowledge. Currently interested in curriculum and pedagogy as contested sites, he is researching non-traditional methods of knowledge transmission that are strewn about cultures and society. Read More | Read Less


Jane Hseu is an Assistant Professor of English at Dominican University. She teaches classes on contemporary multiethnic US literature, US Latino/a literature, composition and globalization, and multicultural Chicago. Her research interests include multidialectialism/multilingualism in Asian American and Latino/a literature and the politics and poetics of performance.



Sharon Lewis has steadily entrenched her status as one of Chicago’s true Blues Divas since her debut in the early 1990s. Internationally known, she has performed at some of the largest and most well-known festivals in the world. Including Lucerne, Switzerland; Monterey, California and the Chicago Blues Festival.
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Brian Lukasavitz is an attorney, educator and blues musician.

He has worked in arts and entertainment for over 15 years in various capacities and is the self-proclaimed "Blues Attorney". Lukasavitz Law Group, LLC. focuses on supporting artists of all genres and mediums in the area of arts and entertainment law. He attributes his desire to pursue a career in law to the great Willie Dixon.

Chavella T. Pittman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Dominican University. Her research article on women faculty of color was featured in Teaching Sociology and in the American Sociological Association newsletter. Her work can also be found in Journal of Black Studies and Journal of Negro Education. Dr. Pittman's research interests center on the social psychology of oppression, with particular emphasis on racial, ethnic, and gender-influenced behaviors. She also has extensive experience designing, implementing, and training others to conduct diversity education.

Sterling Plumpp, Professor Emeritus in English and African American Studies at the University of Chicago, is a poet who employs the imagery of Blues music culture as the subject matter of his work. Among his many publications is the book Blues: The Story Always Untold.




Stephany Rose is an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She holds a B. A. from Clark Atlanta University in English, a M. A. in English from Purdue University, and a Ph. D. in American Studies from Purdue University. Her areas of specialization are 19th and 20th Century American Literature, Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies. Read More | Read Less


Jacob “Brother Jacob” Schulz is a young Blues Singer from Chicago, Illinois. He was introduced to the Blues, at an early age, by an elderly babysitter who used to listen to Pervis Spann on WVON-AM. By the time Jacob was 9, he was calling Spann at the station, requesting his favorite Muddy Waters and Koko Taylor tunes. Growing up in the age of technology, Jacob used the internet as a guide to research Blues music. Read More | Read Less


Matthew Skoller is one of Chicago's most respected harp blowers and blues bandleaders. Deeply rooted in the tradition of the Chicago blues elders with whom he worked and studied, Skoller has developed a unique style that conjures the past while being firmly planted in the present. He has self-produced four of his CDs and the critically acclaimed, award winning Let's Talk About Love by Lurrie Bell. Most recently Matthew collaborated with his brother Larry Skoller on the Grammy nominated historical project, Chicago Blues: A living History.

Peaches Staten is a Chicago vocalist and washboard player. Her album, Live at Legends, recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends, was the last live performance done at the club’s original South Wabash location before it relocated after 21 years. Staten spends much of her time performing outside the United States. Born in Mississippi and raised in Chicago, with a background in gospel, R&B, soul and blues, Staten was in an Afro-Brazilian samba band, as well as a zydeco band, before submerging herself primarily in the blues.

Nellie Travis was born deep in the Delta of Mississippi in the early 60’s. As in most small towns, the church was a main focal point and Nellie grew up singing gospel music. KoKo Taylor was a mentor and friend to Nellie, and when she passed in early 2009, Nellie used her songwriting skills to write and record a tribute song to her friend titled KoKo: Queen of the Blues.
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David Whiteis Ph.D. is an independent scholar living in Chicago. He has written many articles on the Blues and, in 2001, won the Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Achievement in Journalism. His book, Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories, appeared in 2006. David has taught for many years at the college level and is currently an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Dominican University.