Blues in the Mississippi Delta

“Field-recordist Alan Lomax called the Mississippi Delta ‘the land where blues began’.this region is as close as you can get to the ‘birthplace’ of this music. Blues is an African-american artform – survival music that grew out of the cotton fields. There is no rock ’n’ roll without the blues. Elvis grew up dirt poor in Tupelo, where he was no stranger to juke joints.

There are over 200 markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Among those I recommend visiting is Dockery Plantation, where early Delta blues legend Charley Patton lived on and off for years.we also have fabulous museums across the state, from the small-but-mighty Highway 61 Blues Museum (Leland) to the multimillion-dollar BB King Museum (Indianola). Artefacts at Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum include what’s left of Muddy Waters’ childhood home.

In Clarksdale there are blues shows 365 nights a year at places like Red’s Lounge, Ground Zero Blues Club, Bad Apple Blues Club, Bluesberry Cafe, Hambone Art Gallery, Delta Blues Alley Cafe and Shack Up Inn. Our Juke Joint Festival in April is epic too. Other spots to visit in town are my Cat Head blues store, the Bluestown Music guitar shop, Deak’s harmonica store and the monument to the Robert Johnson’s ‘Crossroads’ mythology.” Roger Stolle is a writer and producer dedicated to the preservation of the blues. He owns Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art in Clarksdale, Mississippi.