R. L. Boyce, Lightnin Malcolm & Jimbo Mathus at Clarksdale’s Deep Blues Festival
Robert Palmer’s movie and book “Deep Blues” was instrumental in introducing the world to the Hill Country Blues style and its stars, R. L. Burnside …
Abandoned
Another Day of Blues in Helena
I was late in getting to the second day of the King Biscuit Blues Festival because I had visited the massive Coldwater Trade Day sale …
A Sneak Peek At The Crosstown Concourse
I never in a million years could have imagined the Sears Building being redeveloped as anything at all. I was only in it once when …
Brunch at Katie’s and North Claiborne Avenue in the Treme
My last day in New Orleans is always a little sad, but for this Sunday morning, Darren Towns and I decided to head out to …
Remembering Phelix High School and the Town of Sunset
Segregation of the races was the law in most of the Southern United States from around 1890 on, but as the Progressive era dawned in …
A Solution Becomes A Problem in Harvard Yard
For reasons lost to history, at some point, there was a little wide place in the road north of Marion, Arkansas called Harvard. It wasn’t …
The Walls Come Tumbling Down in Jericho (Arkansas)
South of Turrell, Arkansas along Highway 77 are a string of small rural towns and communities before the county seat town of Marion. The largest …
How To Destroy A Town Part 2: Turrell, Arkansas
The small town of Turrell, Arkansas in northern Crittenden County is yet another victim of Arkansas’ vicious school-closing law. Because Turrell’s school enrollment fell below …
The Ruins of Joiner, Arkansas
It’s not all that common to see a boarded-up police station, but that is exactly what greets the eye at the town of Joiner, Arkansas, …
From Savage to Minter City
On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I decided to continue my exploration of small towns and backroads in the Mississippi Delta. My first stop …