Fordyce hosts its first Blues Fest
Bobby Rush has been a festival mainstay for decades. So, seeing the two-time Grammy winner take the stage in a field on the outskirts of Fordyce Saturday night shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows his history.
Over the weekend, Rush was the headliner for the first Veterans Blues Fest held in honor of local soldiers and veterans in a roadside horse paddock.
The concert was initiated and organized by Shelia Davis, Andre Ellison and Ivory Green of Fordyce, and produced by local entrepreneur Dennis Bailey. Their weeks of planning came to fruition as the heavy thump of a Blues bass line echoed through the surrounding woods.
Rush sat down back stage before his show to answer a few questions.
“I played in Fordyce for the first time in 1949,” he said.
He has appeared as headliner for the Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival as recently as 2019.
When asked his age, he replied with a grin, “I’m not 90 but I’m over 80.”
Asked who he most credits with helping make him the man he’s become, he said emphatically, “My dad.”
In reference to how many Blues festivals he’s helped launch over his 73-year career, Rush wrinkled his brow recalling the long list.
“Greenville and Greenwood, Miss.; Jackson, Tenn., Brownsville, Tenn., Gary, Ind.; Rock Island and Kewanee, Ill.; Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa; Meridian, Miss.; Huntsville and Tuskegee, Ala.; Prichard, Ala.; Albany, Jackson and Flint, Mich.; Magee, Miss.; Racine and Kenosha Wis.; North Little Rock, Helena and Altheimer, Ark.; the Sunflower River Fest in Clarksdale, Miss. and the Tampa Blues Fest in Florida.”
He can now add Fordyce to the inventory.
Asked which one was his favorite and why, Rush answered without hesitation, “The Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Fest in Greenville because they
welcomed me so warmly and we were so well received. This one tonight is starting out small, but a few years from now it should really take off.”
“You see right now,” he said, “the band is at the hotel while I’m out here visiting with everyone and planting seeds for the future. I’ve got to be here to help make this thing come to life.”
Having contracted covid in February 2020, Rush had a long recovery over the following months.
“I’m still nervous about it,” Rush said in reference to the pandemic. “I tell everybody to get vaccinated. It’s not the shot that’s getting folks, it’s not getting the shot that’s making them ill. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for your mother and father and your family and friends. I say the life you save may be mine!”
In a striking example, Rush concluded, “It’s like when you set down to dinner and ask God to bless your food. We don’t know who grew it or where it came from or in many cases who prepared it so we ask the Lord to bless it to our nourishment. It’s the same way with the vaccine. I tell everybody get the shot and ask God to bless it to your health.”
Concert organizer Sheila Davis explained the reason for the event.
“Beginning April 29, I started searching for Purple Heart recipients and veterans affected by Agent Orange in our area wanting to recognize and honor their service to our country,” Davis said. “This was organized as a fundraiser to purchase and remodel a couple of facilities to be utilized as small veteran’s homes in Camden and Fordyce to help homeless vets have a roof over their heads.”
Acts on the bill for Friday night included, Jwonn, Jaye Hammer and Nathanial Kimble. Terry Wright launched the Saturday lineup followed by Bobby Rush. Sound and lighting were provided by Unique Soundz and Lighting.
Rush’s younger brother and right hand man Larry “Shine King” Ellis of Wabbaseka applauded his big brother’s accomplishments.
“Bobby was one of those on the cusp in the ’70s going across country often playing for next to nothing to help establish the Blues festivals that are still around and so popular today. Most fests are no more than 25 or 30 years old ‘cause that’s when it began,” Ellis said. “Bobby was on point to help establish those opportunities. He would headline with his entire band for as little as $300. His generosity and work back then helped get music in places that didn’t normally have the opportunity for that sort of quality entertainment. He gravitated people toward the Blues and helped it catch hold and take root, reaching the much wider audience it enjoys today.”
Ellis said Rush was energized and non-stop when it comes to preserving and promoting the Blues.
“There are a host of guys he helped climb that ladder of success like Willie Clayton, Aaron Davis and Bobby Jones to name a few, a lot of whom have passed on now. It takes a lot of determination, hard work, perseverance and refusing to give up to get where he’s gotten and he doesn’t take it for granted. He is one of those guys people love and admire and he deserves all the recognition he gets,” Ellis said.
Rush, who now calls Jackson, Miss. home, was born Emmett Ellis Jr., the middle son of the Rev. Emmett and Mattie Ellis.
When asked about his entertainment moniker, Rush said, “I changed it out of respect for my preacher father. Religious folks frowned on the Blues back then so I didn’t want to bring any disgrace to a Baptist minister by using his name. My dad never told me to play the Blues but he never told me not to.”