When I drove east on Highway 310 from Como to the Burnside Blues Cafe, I found that nobody was there, and, with it still being somewhat early, I drove back into Oxford for a cappuccino at High Point Coffee. The square was aglow with a sort of magic at sundown as the music of a band from a wedding reception drifted across the street.
Pursuing the Hill Country Blues Tradition in Como
Perhaps no town is as much a part of the Hill Country Blues tradition as the small town of Como, Mississippi in Panola County. It was the hometown of Mississippi Fred McDowell, and of Otha Turner, whose Rising Star Fife and Drum Band may be last band of its kind in America. Today, it is home to great restaurants like the Como Steak House and the Windy City Grill, the Como Inn bed-and-breakfast, and Jimbo Mathus’ Delta Recording Service, where great music is still being recorded. It’s also worth noting that at some point, Tallulah Bankhead briefly lived there!
Main Street, Sardis, MS May 21, 2011
Batesville, MS May 21, 2011
Around the Court Square in Oxford, May 21, 2011
Burnside Blues Cafe, Waterford MS
Burnside Blues Cafe, juke joint owned by the children of legendary Hill Country bluesman R. L. Burnside, May 21, 2011
World-Famous Phillips Grocery in Holly Springs
Phillips Grocery, world-famous burger joint, Holly Springs, MS, May 21, 2011