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 …
Photography
Beauty Emerges From Struggle In Memphis
The designation of Memphis as “Grind City” seems fairly well-entrenched at this point. The city’s modern image as a decidedly working-class place synonymous with struggle …
Garry Burnside Organizes A Big Day For The Hill Country in Ripley, Mississippi
Bluesman Garry Burnside, like his brother Duwayne, grew up in the rural areas near Independence, Mississippi, between the larger towns of coldwater and Holly Springs, …
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 …
Clarksdale Celebrates The Blues And The Juke Joint Culture That Gave It Birth
Most people throw themselves a party on their birthday, but Cat Head Delta Blues owner Roger Stolle throws one for his whole adopted hometown on …
A Great Burger And A Taste of Shreveport’s Musical History
It was my last day in Shreveport, and I wanted a hamburger. I resisted the thought of Twisted Root Burger Company at first, because I …
Afternoon in Shreveport and the Strange Emptiness of a Lost Downtown
I had ridden to Shreveport with someone else, and although I wanted to eat at Orleandeaux’s now that it had opened in the old Smith’s …
Blues at Nightfall: How Dr. David Evans and High Water Records Tried to Secure A Future For The Blues
High Water Records was founded in 1980 by Dean Richard Ranta and Dr. David Evans, an eminent folklorist who was brought to what was then …
Moscow Nights: Scenes From A Rural Juke in West Tennessee
The Delta Review has given a thorough description of Saine’s Blues Club on a couple of previous occasions. The remote juke joint north of Moscow …
“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 …