A Celebration of the Blues at On Location: Memphis
This year’s On Location: Memphis International Film and Music Festival launched something new, a gala blues concert at Cooper-Walker Place in Memphis’ Cooper-Young neighborhood. Hosted …
musicology
The Manassas High School Drumline at Melrose Stadium
Although Memphis’ Black community has an old and deep history of drumlines, the phenomenon has been fading in recent years. A reduced interest on the …
Day 2 of the Otha Turner Picnic at Gravel Springs
The second day of the annual Otha Turner Picnic in Gravel Springs near Senatobia always falls on a Saturday, and brings out a larger crowd. …
Preserving the Black Fife and Drum Tradition at Gravel Springs
For fans of the blues in Mississippi, the summer is somewhat framed by two major events, the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic in June, which …
Preserving the Hill Country Blues Tradition: Duwayne Burnside Live in Holly Springs
Think of Mississippi Blues and you are likely to think of the Delta. The long highways and crossroads, the endless flat land, broken only by …
The Abandonment of Henning, Tennessee
Back in the 1980’s, Henning, Tennessee became famous as the hometown of writer Alex Haley, whose genealogical novel Roots was a best-seller in the late …
Kenny Brown, Cameron Kimbrough and Garry Burnside Live at Holly Springs
Going the Old Hudsonville Road from Hudsonville to Holly Springs proved to be a mistake, because more than half the distance between the two communities …
The 4 Soul Band Live at The All-New Sports Junction In Midtown
The old brick building at 1911 Poplar Avenue plays a large role in Memphis music history. It was the home of Kang Rhee martial arts, …
Blues In The Grove At Oxford
The Oxford Blues Festival was not held on the Square this year, as I would have expected, but rather on the Grove on the Ole …
Hill Country Blues in Benton County on a Very Hot Day
Just to the east of Marshall County, Mississippi is Benton County and its county seat of Ashland, which are also part of the Mississippi Hill …