Quarantine Images
The sudden closure of everything in mid-March due to Covid-19 had a devastating effect on all live music, including the blues. Nearly everything was closed …
juke joints
A Delta Journey: Lake Chicot and Old Juke Joints in Eudora
Across the Mississippi River Bridge from Greenville, Mississippi, a traveler immediately gets a view of a beautiful blue lake to the northwest. This long lake, …
A Delta Journey: Dawn in Rena Lara and Breakfast in Greenville
I had agreed to drop off a co-worker at work on my way out of town, so I ended up getting on the road at …
A Fall Celebration on Mason’s Lower End
Every October, the town of Mason in Tipton County, Tennessee sponsors a Unity Fall Festival on the square, in front of what is left of …
Commemorating a Holy Site of the Bentonia Blues
2019 was the 71st anniversary of a community institution in the town of Bentonia, one of the last Mississippi juke joints. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ family …
A Sunny Afternoon in Memphis
After a breakfast at the Brunswick Kitchen at Brunswick near Lakeland, I decided to spend the afternoon putting up flyers for the R. L. Boyce …
A Void in Vaiden
Vaiden, Mississippi is a town on Highway 51 in Carroll County, and since 1873, the county seat of the second judicial district of that county. …
Honoring Willie “Po Monkey” Seaberry: A Man Whose Juke Joint Helped Define A Town
It was kind of a rough day, actually. David Kimbrough Jr, son of the late Junior Kimbrough had died on July 4th, and was being …
Celebrating The Legacy of the Mississippi Hill Country Blues at Waterford
Last year, the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic took a one-year hiatus, but most years, in June, a large two-day picnic is held at Betty …
Hot Sun and Hot Blues at Bentonia
When the Bentonia Blues Festival outgrew its place in front of the Blue Front Cafe in downtown Bentonia, Mississippi, it moved to a former Black …