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Fate? Karma? Purgatory? Help me put a good spin on this.

My wife and I are heading out to Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Juke Joint Festival which is primarily a blues festival for local delta and hill country blues acts. It is a ton of fun.

We are staying with some old friends in a nearby town. They have graciously invited us to a music series hosted by local country music singer and songwriter Steve Azar. The event occurs every couple of months and features a meal by a prominent local chef (featured in Southern Living, Garden and Gun, etc) as well as cocktails and a casual performance and interview with other songwriters and musicians. It is a small group and the guests interact with the guest musicians. The tickets are fairly pricey and our friends have insisted on buying our tickets.

Other than their love of country music our musical tastes are similar to our friend's. They are going with us to the blues festival. They are also into Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, etc.

The guest musician/songwriter is named Anthony Smith. I'd never heard of him. Apparently he has written songs for some big names in the country music world as has the host, Steve Azar.

Now, I don't hate country music per se. But I have a hard time with contemporary pop country. Here is a video of Anthony Smith's:

https://youtu.be/sbNVTh2QA7k

It is going to be a long night. Fortunately the music will be acoustic. Just the guest with his guitar. I suspect the food will be great and there will be plenty of booze. And I guess it will be interesting to get some insight into the singer/songwriter world even if it is pop country.

I just think it is funny that the one type of music I can hardly stand is what is being featured. I'd prefer hip-hop or rap to pop country ;-)
n80
towertone's avatar
towertone
82 posts
 
Ahh, Clarksdale, MS. an area I used to "pass through" on occasion.
Beale to the north, Tupelo to the east, Helena across the river and Turkey Scratch, AR not much further (yes, the great Levon Helm’s stomping grounds). Also the original Viking Ranges were built not too far from there (so?).

As with most Redneck/Blues/Country Festivals my best advice is not to take anything too seriously. As others have said, enjoy the cooking, booze, humidity and local talent. If it rains, get wet and let it roll off.

I went to a much smaller event years ago in Arkansas City when it poured (like it was 1927....) and a guy from Eureka Springs, AR named Lucius broke into a version of "Rainy Night in Georgia" that was as good as it gets.
jamesclarke
366 posts
 
Truly horrible - and it’s just the kind of thing my wife loves....
gregdude
222 posts
 
Wait, you're going there to attend a music festival and your friends invite you to another music festival? Seems kinda one dimensional to me. Oh well I hope they're just trying to be good friends.
n80 OP
2,116 posts
 
I think I’ve confused everyone. 

My my wife and I are going to a blues festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. We’ve been before. It is awesome. 

We have some old friends who live near there. They have invited us to stay with them in Leland Mississippi which is near Clarksdale. Every couple of months there is a dinner event usually featuring a country music singer/songwriter. They go to this event every time. Since we were going to be there when the event was happening they invited us to go. They did not even know who the musical guest would be when they bought the tickets. I doubt they’re wild about this guy either unless he has other stuff I don’t know about. Anyway, it will be a good five days of music, whiskey and southern food. Can’t complain. 

Glupson, Clarksdale is actually dead/dying except for during various blues festivals. It was much more vibrant in the late 60s. During the festival it comes alive. We were there in February 3 years ago and it was a ghost town.... I got some great B&W photographs during that trip. Maybe I’ll post them here sometime since they are more or less music related. 

It was strange but there were stencils of Robert Plant spray painted all over town. 
glupson
7,842 posts
 
n80,

Once upon a time, it was probably a vibrant town where you could feel people live. I have not been there in 3-4 years, but then I thought it was clearly trying to cash in on the music history. Robert Plant paintings may be just that, in some way. I would not expect them there, but they do not surprise me too much https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_into_Clarksdale

Many more years before that, I ended up at Ground Zero. It had the looks of a regular juke joint, mismatched chairs and all. I chatted with the owner, not the actor but the other one, who looked like anything but the guy who owns a rundown place. Think pastel yellow LaCoste T-shirt, or something like that, ironed slacks, etc. At some point, they brought me a drink and I went to the bar and asked for the glass. The bartender pulled the glass out of the freezer. Nice touch, but not what would have genuinely gone with the décor. In short, it was a brilliantly executed presentation of what visitors would hope to see. The band was way too loud, though, and was the only one I remember from those days that did not play well.

Is the fancy restaurant, owned by same person(s?) (right side, walking away from Ground Zero) still there? It was really good although it was really long time ago.

I forgot the story about the crossroads, but there was something about crossroads in question actually not being where it is marked these days. I think it mentioned some other roads. Just in case, I actually did go there (these current "crossroads") at midnight. Nothing happened.


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