Suavo J and the M-Town Band at Alley Dayz in Downtown Memphis
Originally, I had just planned to go downtown and see my friends Joshua McCain and the Soul Seven, who were playing at a bar called …
Drummers
A Beautiful Day and Great Fun at Coldwater Day
The phenomenon of “town days” is fairly unique to the state of Mississippi, and occurs mainly in predominantly-Black towns. It is possible that they began …
75 Years of Hollering “Goat” in Tate County, Mississippi: Blues and Fife and Drum
For 75 years, there has been a Labor Day picnic in Tate County, Mississippi, featuring barbecued goat and fife and drum music. The tradition was …
Remembering Como Bluesman R. L. Boyce in Como Park
Como, Mississippi bluesman R. L. Boyce knew Fred McDowell, Otha Turner and Rainey Burnett personally, and was the last of a generation of bluesmen. Like …
The Field Is Empty, The Drums Silent
A friend of mine in Senatobia had heard that there might be fife and drum going on at a party on the Compress Road between …
A Veteran Memphis Drummer Celebrates His Birthday With A Concert
Memphis drummer Danny Peterson has played with any number of bands in both gospel and rhythm and blues music. Starting out with quartets like the …
Hot Weather and Hot Blues at the Mississippi Hill Country’s Biggest Weekend
Each year, on the last weekend in June, blues musician Kenny Brown and his wife Sarah host the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic at Betty …
Ripley Celebrates the Burnside Music Legacy and the Hill Country Blues
R.L. Burnside’s son Garry moved to Ripley, Mississippi in Tippah County a few years ago, and since that time, he has become a major fixture …
Preserving The Black Fife and Drum Culture in Coldwater
For 73 years, people in North Mississippi have been going to the Goat Picnic for goat sandwiches, music, dancing, and one of the rarest and …
A Recollection of Memphis’ Black Majorette and Drummer Tradition
Black majorettes and majorette drummers were a unique part of the culture of Memphis’ Black neighborhoods from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Most …