Treasury Employee Erv Bates Celebrates the BLUES 🎶

“Keeping the Blues alive is everyone’s responsibility, but preserving the History of the Blues one story at a time is my mission!” — Erv Bates

Treasury Calculations Assistant Erv Bates is in his sound booth. The booth, a 10’ x 5’ space carved out of his Mason, Michigan home, is where Erv produces his weekly podcast, “Time Signatures with Jim Ervin”. Filled with photos and artifacts from his musical passion for the Blues genre, the space has hosted the voices of some of the most famous Blues musicians in the world.

MI Treasury employee Erv Bates, in his sound booth in Mason, MI

Erv is so well respected in the industry that his podcast was recently accepted into the 40-year-old Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi. “Time Signatures with Jim Ervin” is the ONLY currently produced podcast that is housed in the Blues Archive; the recognition is an incredible honor and speaks to Erv’s dedication to recording the stories of the men and women who sing the Blues’ melancholy songs of struggle, longing, sadness and strength.

Boasting over 60 episodes and beginning season four, the “Time Signatures” podcast is presented by the Capital Area Blues Society (CABS) and is streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Lansing Community College (LCC) Connect. Erv has interviewed some of the biggest names in the Blues music industry, including 93-year-old Robert Stroger, the legendary Walter Trout, and Joe Bonamassa — who broke all records with 28 #1 Billboard Blues albums.

Joe Bonamassa (image by Erv Bates)

Originally from Bay City, Michigan, Erv grew up listening to his Mom’s musical preferences: Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King — all the Blues classics. After working in broadcasting for a few years, Erv, his wife and three children moved to Lansing in the late 1980s where he gave up radio in favor of work that paid the bills.

Radio didn’t give up on Erv, however.

Four years ago he found himself on the board of CABS and involved in local Blues events. He started out doing photography for the group, then was approached to host a radio show or podcast for WLNZ through Lansing Community College.

“I told the producer that I had a vision,” says Erv. “I would love to do a podcast, but I had a niche in mind that would make a Blues podcast resonate with people. I didn’t want a canned show; I wanted to actually interview the artists. Over the last couple of seasons I’ve been able to interview some of the biggest names in the business and I’m having a blast. It’s like being part of a living archive.”

The Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi began with a donation of about 10,000 pieces of vinyl and some wax cylinders from B.B. King a couple of years before the archive officially opened in 1984. Erv was referred to the lead archivist, Greg Johnson, who seized the opportunity to add “Time Signatures” to the archive catalog. Capturing the voices of Blues musicians for posterity makes Erv a historian as much as he is a podcast host.

The traditional blues genre originated in the deep south after the Civil War. Originally sung by African Americans, the music incorporated church spirituals and African music to express their lived community experience of oppression, slavery, resilience and freedom.

“Blues has never had a seat at the table on its own,” Erv explains. “But virtually every genre of music has been touched by the blues. Gospel music. Rock and roll. There’s a song by The Rolling Stones called “Little Red Rooster” that they performed back in the ‘60s — that’s a Blues tune, originally penned by singer/songwriter Willie Dixon and first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1961. Jimi Hendrix was big into the Blues. Bob Seger referenced the Blues in his music, and Fleetwood Mac, when the group first started, was just four guys playing the Blues (led by the legendary Peter Green).

“The irony of the Blues is that it started down south in the Delta and it spread north. So you’ve got the Chicago Blues, you’ve got the Memphis Blues, you’ve got the Piedmont Blues, you’ve got all these different varieties of the genre. And now musicians like Joe Bonamassa are gaining notoriety because they have what they call Rock-Infused Blues.”

“The Blues is a buffet. There are so many variations in the genre, including rock, gospel, even some country….and as music lovers, we can hit that buffet and grab a little of everything we love and pile it as high as we want! Some will take more or less than others, but the best part of the Blues is we can do just that. It’s not a one size fits all.” — Erv Bates

Big Mama Thornton and Koko Taylor were prominent performers when Blues singers were first recorded, but women have received far less attention in recent years. Erv supports the National Women in Blues organization and looks forward to adding current names like Danielle Nicole, Samantha Fish, Shemekia Copeland and Joanna Connor to his podcast wall.

Aiming high with his podcast guest list, Erv also has feelers out to Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger — who all have musical ties to the genre that’s inspired American music for over 150 years.

Buddy Guy (image by Erv Bates)

“I just never know what kind of stories I’m going to get when I do the interviews,” Erv comments. “Walter Trout is one of the biggest names in the Blues, and we almost lost him several years ago. He had a liver transplant because of drug and alcohol use through the early part of his life. He’s very forthright, talked about it on the podcast, and told me about a three day intervention that Carlos Santana did on him to get him clean. I was able to capture some fantastic stories from the guy. This is what wakes me up in the morning…the stories keep me going.”

Legendary Blues Rocker Walter Trout with Erv

Wanting to preserve the stories is Erv’s biggest reason for starting “Time Signatures” — and the University of Mississippi archive will ensure that his work will be available to music historians in the future.

“I consider it an honor to speak to these musicians and other Blues dignitaries,” Erv adds. “I’m collecting a nice stockpile of interviews that will long outlive me. I’ve told my kids, you’ll be able to see me and hear me long after I’m gone, and so will your kids and their kids. This is my legacy.” ~

>>Find Erv and his “Time Signatures” podcast on his

• Facebook page
• Blues Archive Page
• YouTube Channel

New to the Blues? Check out Erv Bates Top Ten List of FAVS!

(You can find all of these songs on YouTube or other streaming services.)

1. Joe Bonamassa “Further On Up the Road” (recorded at Royal Albert Hall 2009 with Eric Clapton)

2. B.B. King “Riding with the King” (recorded with Eric Clapton)

3. Walter Trout “Say Goodbye To the Blues” (written & dedicated to B.B. King)

4. Larry McCray “Soul Shine” (written by Warren Haynes, but Larry recorded it first)

5. Fleetwood Mac “Albatross” (Peter Green era, ‘Before the Beginning’ album)

6. Rolling Stones “All of Your Love”

7. Buddy Guy “End of the Line”

8. Toronzo Cannon “Insurance”

9. Koko Taylor “Wang Dang Doodle”

10. Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram “Been Here Before” (album version is my favorite)