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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
n80 OP
2,117 posts
 
@djones:

I showed my wife the video and she thought it was a spoof on pop country......I had to explain to her that it was _actual_ pop country. 

@dweller : Agreed. It is generous and thoughtful of our friends to invite us and I will try to be gracious about it and have a good time. Getting a glimpse into that world might be interesting.....in a side show sort of way.

@whart : "Take 'em down to the crossroads."

That is exactly where we will be taking them for the Juke Joint Festival. The legendary crossroads is on highway 61 right there in Clarksdale.

My connection to Clarksdale was that I lived there for 5 years as a child. My father was a 'revenuer' and busted moonshiners. He loved it.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
n80, Probably just fate. You seem like a decent guy so I doubt it's karma, & purgatory will just be yoko ono's constant "singing", so... 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,405 posts
 
My wife and I drove through Mississippi on our way to New Orleans on Sunday. Today we drove from New Orleans to Memphis. Unfortunately the weather isn’t good tonight. Tomorrow night we will hang out on Beale St and will hear some great Blues. Will be dining at BB Kings on some most excellent BBQ. We love Memphis, it’s our 4th time here in the past 6 years. Tomorrow’s lunch will be Reds Fried Chicken, can’t wait.

You will have a blast with your friends. Funny, I dislike Country, Hip Hop and Rap, but I would take Country over the other two. Enjoy.
whart's avatar
whart
3,047 posts
 
Yep, we visited the Delta a few years ago. I had this image in my mind of sepia-tones, it was quite lush and beautiful. Obviously a lot of history there, some pretty scary. I did see the road to Parchman Farm but I doubt they wanted visitors.
We wound up staying the night in Greenwood, lodging and eating at that upscale place that is tied to the Viking Stove company. Did not really stay to explore -- we headed on to Arkansas, through to Dallas, en route to Austin on our move from NY.
We were a little like the Beverly Hillbillies; my wife’s car was packed to the gills. We did have fun though, even though it was a tiring trip from NY.
Be thankful there’s no polka revival movement there.
We just had the Honk Festival here- street bands, the odder the better. Same day as the Chihuahua Beauty pageant, so I was conflicted. :)
rmclain
18 posts
 
Mississippi is a lush and beautiful state for sure @whart - but troubled. You gotta do the backroads, the single blue-line highways on the map. Meet a local. There tends to be a high quotient of colorful people, “characters.” They’ll probably invite you over for dinner and may even offer a place to stay. Vicksburg National Military Park is really interesting.
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