A Day of Blues at Fordyce’s Cotton Belt Festival
It is often hard to be a journalist or observer and also a working musician within the scene I am trying to document. But I …
juke joints
Out in Memphis on a Friday Night
What does the music fan do in Memphis on a Friday night? On one particular December Friday, I headed down to the lobby of the …
A Day of Community and Fun in Mason, Tennessee
Mason, Tennessee was once known for the Lower End, a collection of juke joints on Front Street, colloquially known as “cafés,” but these days most …
Celebrating the Legendary Blues Researcher Axel Kustner in West Point, Mississippi
German blues researcher Axel Kustner was one of the last blues field workers to comb the southern United States looking for bluesmen, and he was …
The Blues is Front and Center on Clarksdale’s Biggest Day
Most people’s friends throw them a party on their birthday, but Roger Stolle, the owner of Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art throws the …
Easter Afternoon at a Blues Juke in the Hill Country
Holly Springs, Mississippi is home to one of the state’s youngest juke joints, the Burnside Bar and Grill, which belongs to Hill Country bluesman Duwayne …
The Fading Ruins of Turrell, Arkansas
Turrell, Arkansas, about ten miles north of Marion, is like a number of East Arkansas Delta towns. Once dependent on agricultural, it is fading away …
Remembering West Memphis’s South Eighth Street
While Memphis’s Beale Street is far better known, and has been restored as a tourist attraction, South Eighth Street across the river in West Memphis, …
An Old-Fashioned Political Rally in Slayden, Mississippi
Political rallies used to be a ubiquitous feature of late summer in Southern counties, and the old tradition continues in rural counties like Marshall County, …
Grooving On A Sunday Afternoon
It was the first really warm Sunday afternoon of the year, and one where I had a rare Sunday afternoon gig with Big Don Valentine …