Tag: Alice Mae’s Cafe

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Final Thursday Night Blues on the Square in Holly Springs with Brown Sugar and Shannon McNally @McNally

001 Blues on the Square003 Blues on the Square005 Brown Sugar Band006 Brown Sugar Band007 Brown Sugar008 Blues on the Square009 Blues on the Square010 Blues on the Square011 Blues on the Square012 Blues on the Square013 Blues on the Square014 Blues on the Square015 Blues on the Square016 Blues on the Square017 Brown Sugar Band018 Brown Sugar Band019 Blues on the Square020 Blues on the Square021 Blues on the Square024 Blues on the Square026 Brown Sugar Band027 Brown Sugar Band028 Brown Sugar Band029 Brown Sugar Band030 Brown Sugar Band031 Blues on the Square032 Blues on the Square033 Blues on the Square034 Blues on the Square035 Blues on the Square036 Blues on the Square037 Blues on the Square038 Blues on the Square039 Blues on the Square040 Blues on the Square041 Blues on the Square042 Blues on the Square043 Alice Mae's Cafe044 Blues on the Square045 Blues on the Square046 Blues on the Square047 JB's On The Square048 JB's On The Square049 JB's On The Square050 Shannon McNally051 Shannon McNally052 Shannon McNally053 Shannon McNally054 Garry Burnside and Shannon McNally055 Blues on the Square056 Shannon McNally057 Shannon McNally058 Garry Burnside059 Shannon McNally060 Shannon McNally061 Blues on the Square062 Blues on the Square063 Blues on the Square064 Shannon McNally & Garry Burnside065 Shannon McNally066 Shannon McNally067 Garry Burnside068 Garry Burnside069 Blues on the Square070 Blues on the Square071 Blues on the Square072 Blues on the Square073 Blues on the Square075 Blues on the Square076 Blues on the Square077 Blues on the Square078 Blues on the Square079 Blues on the Square080 Blues on the Square081 Blues on the Square082 Blues on the Square083 Blues on the Square
Beginning in July each summer, the town of Holly Springs, Mississippi sponsors Thursday night blues concerts on the courthouse lawn in the town square. While the events do attract tourists, it’s not just a tourist-oriented event, as Marshall County is an important place in Mississippi blues history. Two of the greatest Hill County bluesmen, R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, were from Marshall County, and made their careers and reputations in the area. The county is also home to the annual North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, held each summer in Waterford, and the county seat of Holly Springs is the location of Akei Pro’s Record Shop, a virtual blues-lover’s paradise, full of old vinyl records and some compact discs, as well as bluesman Duwayne Burnside’s local club, Alice Mae’s Cafe.
On September 25, I headed down to Holly Springs for the soft opening of a new juke joint, Junior’s Juke Joint #2, being opened north of town by David Kimbrough Jr, son of the late Junior Kimbrough. The opening date was chosen to correspond to the final Thursday night event of the year on the square, so I headed there first, and found a large crowd listening, dancing and enjoying the music of blues singer Brown Sugar and her band. After her performance, I ran across and grabbed a dinner at JB’s on the Square (good food) and then made it back in time to see indie singer Shannon McNally, who was performing with a band that included Garry Burnside (another son of R. L.’s) on guitar. North Center Street was also in a festive mood, with a large crowd outdoors, and good Southern Soul records playing in Alice Mae’s Cafe. In a large parking lot north of Akei Pro’s, there was a crowd of people hanging out and grilling food. After Shannon’s last song, there was a procession of Corvettes that came through the square, and the final Thursday night Blues on the Square event for 2014 came to a close.




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Duwayne Burnside Live at the Cat Head Stage #JukeJointFest2014


After Garry Burnside performed, his brother Duwayne Burnside came onto the stage in front of Cat Head Delta Blues to perform his set. Duwayne performs many of his father’s classic Hill Country blues compositions, and frequently performs in and around North Mississippi. He is also the co-owner of Alice Mae’s Cafe just north of the square in Holly Springs on North Center Street.