Day 16
April 16, 2023
The majority of people who come to the Juke Joint Festival leave after Saturday. The upside, I was able to get a reasonably priced motel room in Clarksdale and wouldn't have to drive all the way back to West Helena at the end of the day.
Sunrise on the way to breakfast...
One hundred and sixty years ago, the battle for Helena took place. While the battle happened in August, this weekend was the anniversary reenactment, Imagine walking into your motel's breakfast room and seeing both Union and Confederate soldiers.
One last time over the Mississippi River.
There's a little breakfast place in Clarksdale called My Grandmother's House of Pancakes. It's a pretty small place and as you can see, the line does go out the door. Since I walked in by myself, and there were three guys in the group behind me, we were seated together at a table.
It turns out they were three attorneys who took the weekend off for the festival. It was a great conversation and an equally great breakfast.
It was another full day of music, but less crowds. The Bluesberry Cafe had a string of bands playing on their outdoor stage. It was hard to miss Robert Kimbrough, Sr's guitar from a block away. You can check out Robert's playing here on his video for "Come on Go With Me Girl."
In the end, it wasn't his guitar playing that brought me in, it was the bass groove Jim Stafford was laying down. It wasn't just your basic blues walking bass line. It was smooth and cut through beautifully, without taking anything from Robert's playing. After their set, I stopped and told him so.
The largest remaining outdoor stage on Sunday's is Cathead.
Playing this morning was Rev. Peyton and his Big Damn Band. They're always a big draw and for good reasons. They're just a fun band to watch. You can see their video for "Raise a Little Hell" here:
I caught the rest of their set from a bench across the street. As they were playing, a guy was working an enormous barbecue cooker. I hadn't been thinking food yet. But, the guy on the next bench had bought a half a rack of rips and seemed to be having a religious experience. Good enough for me. I bought my own half rack and didn't eat the rest of the day. So good! The side of coleslaw, perfect with the ribs. And no, that's still not the last coleslaw reference of the trip.
After cleaning myself up, I found myself back behind the Bluesberry Cafe for Mississippi Marshal. I had heard people talking about him and he definitely delivered. You can see his video for "I Believe I'll Go Back Home." here:
The outdoor stage at Hambones was gone. Instead, Rockin' Johnny Burgin were playing. on their indoor stage. Prakish Slim was supposed to be with him. You can hear Prakish perform "Payday" here: I would have enjoyed hearing both these guys together. But, schedules do change. As for Rockin' Johnny, you can see him play "I Can't Make it Blues." here: Instead, on the left is J.D. Sipe. They played together for a half hour then left because he had "another gig." He had been filling in, but had his own set to do elsewhere. You can hear him play "Touch of Grey" here:
I walked back to Bluesberry Cafe and caught part of Bryan Blue's set. He was playing both upbeat and laid back blues. You can hear him do "Everybody Boogie" here:
Bands are scheduled to play in some venues long into the night. The outdoor venues seem to be wrapping up by late afternoon. Out at the Shack Inn, the last performer was scheduled for a longer set at 3P. I just wanted to get back there one more time.
Lightnin' Malcolm was setting up when I arrived. He was definitely worth the drive across town for. And there's something about that very funky venue.
Joining him on stage for the last few songs of his first set was Ilana Katz Katz. I've never seen her play solo. But, she sits in with bands throughout the festival. Here's a solo song she did, "Downtown With the Devil."
There was just something about the way her violin fit into Lightnin's music. It added another layer that sounded amazing.
Lighnin' Malcolm played a second set and I stayed for most of it. You can see the video for his song, "Crawling Baby" here;
By now it was pushing 5P and it was time to head over to the very quiet America's Best and check in. While packed the night before, there were very few vehicles in the lot when I pulled in. Parked next to me were three pick-up trucks equipped with the extra set of wheels for driving on railroad tracks. I've seen these before and have always wanted to ask the folks who drive them, just how cool is it to drive on railroad tracks.
There was only one thing left for the day, the afterparty jam at Red's Lounge, one of the last authentic, old school juke joints.
One of the tricks I learned, get there early and park close by. Walk around, sure. But get back when the door opens. Seating is extremely limited. My first time I spent the evening leaning against the back wall by the bathrooms.
I got in early and grabbed a seat by the bar. Around 7:30P, the house band for the evening arrives and tunes up. A yellow legal pad comes out and if you want to play, just sign up. Later in the evening, you get to jump in and play with the house band, usually for three songs.
Tonight's house band was led by Jaxx Nassar. She and the band jammed for a while, waiting for their singer to finish a gig elsewhere.
I didn't catch his name, but he arrived and they played for another half hour.
That's where the fun begins. People would start swapping out with the band. Sometimes it was people I had seen earlier in the day. There was even a harmonical player who just joined in for a few songs, too.
One of these performers was Omar Gordon. You can actually watch his nine minute jam to Jimi Hendrix' "Hey Joe" here: He had just released his first blues album and I bought one. He could use a little time with a vocal coach. But, his playing on the record is really good.
I stuck around until around 11P before heading out. I was just grateful not to have that thirty minute drive to West Helena again.
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