A Delta Afternoon: The Sad Death of Parkin
The Cross County, Arkansas town of Parkin is yet another rural town ravaged by Arkansas’s forced school consolidation law. The loss of its local schools …
Black History
A Delta Afternoon: Wynne’s Abandoned Childress High School
I had been told that Wynne, Arkansas once had a number of juke joints in its northwestern section, which was the town’s Black community. But …
Iyuana Patrice and Jonathan Ellis Bring the Blues to Broadway in West Memphis
Blues Off Broadway is a weekly blues concert every Thursday evening in the month of May in West Memphis, Arkansas, usually held on a portable …
Juke Joint Love in Whitehaven at the VIP
Memphis, Tennessee is a fairly common destination for tourists, and Beale Street is the usual attraction that many want to see. Memphis does a considerable …
In Search of Harlem Alley
In the spring of 1983, I was going to Central Baptist School in the Bartlett area, and I rode with our basketball team to Forrest …
The Forgotten Town of Madison, Arkansas
Madison, Arkansas likely seems just a small crossroads to those who travel down Highway 70, and does not even register at all to those on …
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 …
Hot Weather and Hot Blues at the Mississippi Hill Country’s Biggest Weekend
Each year, on the last weekend in June, blues musician Kenny Brown and his wife Sarah host the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic at Betty …
Earl the Pearl’s Authentic Blues on Historic Beale Street
Memphis bills itself as the Home of the Blues, and markets Beale Street as “the street where blues was born.” But since the street’s redevelopment …
A City of Murals
While the city of Memphis has struggled in recent years with abandonment and economic problems, one of the bright spots has been an explosion of …