Although the Friday night shows had been harassed by storms, no such problem occurred on the Saturday of the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. In fact the day was a bright sunny blue one, with fairly cool temperatures compared to what we had been having, and it was the perfect setting for a full day of Hill Country blues. The gates had opened with R. L. Boyce at 10:30 in the morning, but by the time I arrived, Joseph Burnside was on stage, with Duwayne and Garry Burnside backing him up. He was followed by Bill Abel, then Cary Hudson of the band Blue Mountain, and finally Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band from the Gravel Springs community near Senatobia, one of the last Black fife and drum bands in America. Garry Burnside and his band went up on stage after that, and then I left to go to dinner at Lamar Lounge in Oxford. In addition to the live performances, there were lots of arts, crafts and clothing for sale at various tents up on the hill, and a raffle, which was being held to raise money for a gravestone for the late bluesman Robert Belfour. And the whole day’s proceedings were broadcast live by New Orleans’ superb radio station WWOZ.
Keep up with R. L. Boyce:
https://www.facebook.com/RLBoyceBlues
Keep up with Bill Abel:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Abel/192999535686
https://myspace.com/billabel
Keep up with Cary Hudson:
http://caryhudson.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cary-Hudson-Music/124389767589979
Tweets by caryhudsonmusic
https://myspace.com/caryhudson
Keep up with Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharde-fifemastor-Thomas/225158361001370
Keep up with Garry Burnside:
https://www.facebook.com/garrybluesmanburnside
Keep up with the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic:
https://www.facebook.com/nmshillcountrypicnic