Catfish’s Big Day in Belzoni
I had no phone service at all while I was at Swiftown, but as I approached Belzoni, my phone started ringing. Blues musician Duwayne Burnside, …
Blues
A Look at Avalon, Mississippi John Hurt’s Hometown
It is well-known that Mississippi John Hurt was from Avalon, Mississippi in Carroll County, and lived there most of his life, but for most people …
A Busy Night for Live Music in Como, Mississippi
Sherena Boyce, daughter of the great Hill Country bluesman R. L. Boyce had told me that Deandre Walker and his band the Mississippi Boys were …
Headstone Dedication for the Late Memphis Bluesman Charlie Burse
It had rained all day, but T. DeWayne Moore of the Mount Zion Memorial Fund had sent me an invitation to the dedication of a …
Find Your Place In Society…Society Memphis, That Is
I am old enough to remember when Memphis did not have even so much as one coffee bar. Now there is actually a bewildering array …
A Day in Lauderdale County, Tennessee
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, and its county seat of Ripley have a significant blues tradition. Petey Wheatstraw was from Ripley, and Noah Lewis and John Henry …
Together We Stand: Como, Mississippi Celebrates Its Vibrant Legacy
“Can’t One Make One” read the shirts with the iconic image of the Como water tower on the front, and the legend “Together We Stand” …
Celebrating Mason, Tennessee’s Important Legacy
Mason, Tennessee, located in Tipton County by geography, but more socially and culturally linked to adjacent Fayette County, is the dead center of what might …
The Blues Has A Future
Elsewhere in this blog, I have commented on Clarksdale’s excellent coffee roasting firm Meraki Roasting Company, but on a recent trip to meet with a …
The Tennessee Delta V: Fayette County
On a Friday evening, after meeting a friend for dinner in Memphis, with nothing in particular to do, I headed out Poplar Avenue through Collierville …