RELATED EVENTS RUN THURSDAY TO SUNDAY (APRIL 15-18) FOR 2010 EDITION
Photos by Nan Hughes
Thursday,
April 15th --
Students from the DBM Arts & Education
Program will audition for
a full scholarship that
will place them in Boston
for five weeks this summer,
July 10 - August 13, with
900 high school students
from all over the world,
sharpening their playing
or singing skills in private
lessons, ensembles, and
concert performances. (Private)
Friday, April 16th,
3 p.m. -- Join us
in the DBM classroom for "Conversations
With Honeyboy." At age
94, David "Honeyboy" Edwards
is one of the last of the original
Delta Blues masters, and is
still playing and entertaining
audiences around the world.
Edwards will be selling and
signing his CDs and book, The
World Don't Owe Me Nothing.
Friday, April 16th,
4 p.m. -- Join us
in the DBM classroom to hear
William Ferris discuss his
new book and current exhibit
at the museum, "Give My
Poor Heart Ease." Give
My Poor Heart Ease is a documentary
record of Ferris's home state
during the 1960s and '70s,
illustrated with Ferris's photographs
of Mississippi musicians and
their communities and includes
a CD of original music and
a DVD of original film. The
book, available in the DBM
Shop, also features more than
20 interviews relating frank,
dramatic and engaging first-person
narratives about black life
and blues music in the heart
of the American South.
Friday, April 16th,
5:30-7 p.m. -- Once
again, the Delta Blues Museum
Band will perform at the DBM
Stage for the Care Station's
annual Fish Fry fundraiser.
The Care Station, located next
to the museum, has been feeding
Clarksdale's hungry for more
than 20 years. For just $10,
you get a plateful of catfish,
hush puppies, fries, slaw and
a dessert (eat in or take out).
Tickets can be purchased in
advance at the museum, as well
as at the Care Station during
the event.
Saturday, April 17th --
Three years ago, Berklee
College of Music began
a summer scholarship initiative
for students at the Delta Blues
Museum, in Clarksdale, and
the Robert Johnson Blues Museum,
in Crystal Springs. To date,
four recipients have made the
trip to Berklee's Five-Week
Summer Performance Program.
The
Berklee Mississippi Music
Exchange, as the effort is
now known, develops opportunities
to exchange music, education
and culture between Berklee,
the Mississippi Delta and
other parts of the state.
On Saturday,
the Berklee Mississippi Exchange
Band performs at the Juke Joint
Festival at 3:30 p.m. on the
Delta Blues Museum Stage, and
at 7:00 p.m. at Ground Zero
Blues Club, opening for Rev.
Peyton's Big Damn Band, and
Super Chikan.
Saturday,
April 17th, DELTA
BLUES MUSEUM STAGE
2:30 p.m.--Delta
Blues Museum's Arts & Education
Program Band
3 p.m.--Announcement
of Berklee Summer Music Camp
scholarship winner
3:30 p.m.--Berklee
Mississippi Exchange Band
5 p.m.--Stax
Music Academy Revue
6 p.m.--Delta
State University's "Ol'
Skool Revue"
April 8, 2010 (Clarksdale,
Mississippi) -- "I don't care what anybody says. There ain't another festival like it in the world," boasted Nan Hughes, one of Juke Joint Festival's key organizers. "Where
else can you see Monkeys
Riding Dogs one day and
hang out in old-school
juke joints the next? I
think it's the biggest
little festival in the
South."
 The Juke Joint Festival itself is Saturday, April 17th in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Related events start Thursday and carry on through Sunday night. Last year's festival weekend drew fans from at least 43 U.S. states and 17 foreign countries.
"We call it 'half blues festival, half small-town fair and all about the Delta' for a reason," explained co-organizer Goldie Hirsberg. "During the day we have activities for both visiting tourists and local families. At night, well, that's throw-down time! That's for the adults."
Juke Joint Festival Weekend kicks off with a bang on Thursday night (April 15) when Grammy-winner Jimbo Mathus presents "Mosquitoville: Mississippi Songs & Stories" live on the Delta Cinema Stage (113 3rd St.). Sponsored by Clarksdale Revitalization, the presentation promises to delve into the Magnolia State's rich music and mythology. Doors open at 5pm with two free shows at 6pm and 7:30pm.
 Friday's festival-related activities include monkeys riding dogs from Pontotoc, Mississippi, as well as Coahoma County's latest Mississippi Blues Trail Marker dedication. The noon dedication at the WROX Museum (257 Delta Avenue) will recognize an early location of Clarksdale's famous WROX blues/gospel radio station. The event will be following by a William Ferris "Give My Poor Heart Ease" book signing and live blues revue at Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art across the street (252 Delta Avenue). From there, additional events travel down the street and include "Conversations with Honeyboy Edwards" at the Delta Blues Museum and a "Theo The Boogieman" performance at the Rock & Blues Museum. More live blues follows that night at the clubs and jukes.
For many visiting tourists, it's the music that matters most, and Saturday will be a day for the history books.
"We've got Mississippi blues musicians from 8 years young to 94 years old on Saturday," noted Roger Stolle, music coordinator and festival co-founder. "It's just a crazy list of real-deal legends. Big George Brock, Big Jack Johnson, Big T Williams. Super Chikan, Watermelon Slim, Duck Holmes. Cadillac John, Gearshifter, T-Model Ford. It may sound more like a wrestling show, grocery list or used car lot to some... but that's the Delta blues for you. Wild names and even wilder music!"
Other notable blues musicians include Cedell Davis, Johnny Rawls, Stacy Mitchhart, Robert Belfour, Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, The Scissormen, Mr. Tater, Bilbo Walker, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm and many more. Among the performers are many of the stars of last year's Blues Music Award-winning film "M for Mississippi." The future of the blues will also be well-represented by student musicians and their instructors from the Delta Blues Museum, Berklee Mississippi Exchange, DSU's Ol' Skool Revue and Stax Music Academy.
Saturday alone will feature eight official daytime stages and 16 nighttime juke joint venues. The festival's daytime music is free while the nighttime music can be had for the reasonable price of a $10 wristband. The wristband also gets attendees onto the four nighttime bus shuttles as well as a fifth shuttle that would have made Robert Johnson himself proud.
"This year, our friends at C&J Railroad and Mississippi Delta Railroad are running an actual locomotive with passenger cars back and forth between downtown's historic Train Depot and Hopson Plantation on Saturday night," said Hughes. "The train will also run roundtrip excursions on Friday night and Saturday lunchtime, and most of the trips will feature blues performances on board. How cool is that?"
Pre-sale wristbands for Saturday night's main event will be available in front of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art (252 Delta Avenue) on Thursday and Friday afternoon (April 15-16) as well as at the main festival tent on Saturday and at the nighttime venues while quantities last.
Other Juke Joint Festival-related activities on Saturday include a 5K/8K Run, Robinson's Racing Pigs, Mini Film Fest at Delta Cinema, "Passport to Downtown" contest, arts & crafts vendors, food vendors and special events inside downtown businesses and restaurants. Family-friendly activities include a petting zoo, rock wall, Segway course, Moonbounce, kiddie train, face painting, Strut-Your-Mutt contest, student art show and more.
 Saturday night's festival events kick off with the inaugural "Miss Sarah Award" presentation at Sarah's Kitchen (278 Sunflower Avenue), 7pm. Named after the late blues kitchen owner, Miss Sarah Moore, the new award will be presented to two individuals each year (one past/one present) who have made notable contributions towards blues music, Mississippi tourism and the city of Clarksdale. After the awards, blues godfather David "Honeyboy" Edwards will perform, starting off the nighttime juke joint crawl's 16 venues.
"On Sunday, the festivities continue with the always free and fun Cat Head Mini Blues Fest as well as the annual Ground Zero Blues Club blues brunch," said Stolle.
Hotel rooms are still available at the Isle of Capri in nearby Lula. In addition to running a Saturday bus shuttle from the Isle of Capri hotel to downtown Clarksdale, the hotel is offering a special event rate at 1-800-the-Isle (promo code "JUKE"). The hotel/casino is a sponsor of the festival.
Go to www.jukejointfestival.com for more details on the Juke Joint Festival & Related Events, April 15-18, 2010.
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JUKE JOINT FESTIVAL NIGHTTIME MUSIC SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, APRIL 17TH (9pm unless noted; $10 wristband required):
Ground Zero Blues Club - Berklee Mississippi Exchange (7pm), Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band (8pm), Super Chikan (9pm)
Red's Lounge - Big Jack Johnson
Hopson Commissary (front stage) - Big George Brock
Hopson Commissary (back porch) - Brian Sivils with Buddy Flett
Juke Joint Chapel (Shackup Inn) - Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm
Sarah's Kitchen - "Miss Sarah Award" (7pm), Honeyboy Edwards (7:30pm), Terry "Harmonica" Bean (9pm)
Delta Blues Room - Josh "Razorblade" Stewart
Delta Amusement Cafe - Guitar Mikey & the Real Thing
Stone Pony - Davis Coen
Hambone Gallery - Stan Street & the Hambone Band
Tricia's - Terry "Big T" Williams
Bluesberry Cafe - Mark "Mule Man" Massey
Ann "Action" Jackson, Earl The Pearl, Hal Reed & "Mr. Johnnie" Billington
James "T-Model" Ford, Honeyboy Edwards, Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, Big George Brock, Bilbo Walker & more. BBQ for sale.
NOTE: ALL TIMES/SCHEDULES "SUBJECT TO CHANGE." (It's the Delta y'all!)
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