The Ole Skool Majorette and Drummer Jamboree was held Saturday night at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis. Unlike many of the jamborees I have been to this year, this one was more like the good jamborees I remember from my youth, with the majorettes working out to drummers’ beats instead of compact discs. The event opened with Triggaman and Bugs Can Can (AKA The Showboys) leading everyone in gangsta walking to the old-school anthem “Triggaman.” 4/21/12 #MemphisRising
I ended my Juke Joint Fest 2012 at DJ Hype’s Rhythm and Blues, a venue in North Clarksdale, far removed from the downtown area. The Roosevelt Robinson Blues Band from Jackson was on stage, performing for a small crowd that included some folks from Sweden.Â
Louis “Gearshifter” Youngblood performing at Club 2000, Juke Joint Festival, Clarksdale, MS, 4/14/12
Ole Skool Majorette & Drummer Jamboree, Memphis Cook Convention Center, 4/21/12 6 PM
The Otis “TCB” Taylor Blues Band performing at Bluesberry Cafe, Juke Joint Festival, Clarksdale MS, 4/14/12
Eddie C. Campbell performing at The Bank, Juke Joint Festival, Clarksdale MS, 4/14/12
Jimbo Mathus calls his unique mixture of blues, country and rock “Catfish Music”, and is a popular performer at every Juke Joint Festival, as he is a former resident of Clarksdale. Messengers Pool Hall, where he performed on Saturday night, is possibly the oldest continuously-operated juke joint in Mississippi. Mathus is about to release his latest album White Buffalo.
The Mississippi Delta Railroad runs a special excursion train during the Juke Joint Festival, carrying people between Hopson and the Shack Up Inn and Clarksdale depot. Juke Joint Festival, 4/14/12
