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 …
Drummers
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 …
A Beautiful Evening of Blues with Lady Trucker at Blues on the Porch in Holly Springs
During the warm months, Blues on the Porch in Holly Springs, Mississippi brings the area’s best blues performers to the front porches and yards of …
“We Had Some Fun On The Holiday”: Mardi Gras on the Backstreets of New Orleans
“Mardi Gras” to most Americans conjures up images of crowds on Bourbon Street and girls pulling up their dresses in the hopes that someone will …
Larry Dodson Live and An Honor for Vic Martin in Oxford
My friend loves the Bar-Kays, so when she heard that their former lead singer Larry Dodson would be performing in Oxford, Mississippi, she wanted to …
Duwayne Burnside Brings The Hill Country Blues to Memphis at Railgarten
Duwayne Burnside is one of the sons of the late R. L. Burnside, and is a living legend of the Hill Country blues tradition in …
All On A Mardi-Gras Day: “I Run Through Water and Swim Through Mud”: Black Indians Uptown
The gangs of Black Indians (sometimes called Mardi Gras Indians) who appear in elaborate costumes on the streets of New Orleans on Mardi Gras, St. …
The Orpheus Parade on Lundi Gras in New Orleans
Lundi Gras is really a holiday in New Orleans, with schools and some businesses closed, and a lot of people off work. My friend Darren …