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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
2,133 posts
 
@orpheus10 The dinner with the 'country' musician is different from the Juke Joint Festival which is almost entirely local blues musicians a fair number of whom are relatives of Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside which is cool. Some of it is hard core delta blues as in one old guy with a guitar and that is what I like the most. 

@blindjim : Mississippi is a treasure chest of great musicians and writers. Sam Cooke was from Clarksdale. BB King was from nearby Indianola. The friends we are visiting helped do some engineering work for the BB King museum and got to meet him several times before he died. Of course most of the famous blues musicians were from Mississippi or Arkansas.

Elvis was from Mississippi.

Jimmy Buffett

Ike Turner

A slew of country and jazz music singers.

Leontyne Price (opera).

For a state so small, so poor and so backwards its contribution to literature and music is unparalleled. Rock and roll started in Mississippi.

@jbrrp1 I'll have a flask.
whart's avatar
whart
3,102 posts
 
Literature too. The South is famous for writers.
There’s a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a record business exec visiting a road house down south and hearing this marvelous performer. He approached the artist after a set and said, I’m with X label, I’d like to talk about signing you. To which the artist responded, "all that stuff goes through my agent in NY."
I’m fascinated by the stories of the blues revival and those (mostly young) people who collected 78s seeking the out the surviving legends. Some of the stories are great and have been collected in various books about Son House, Skip James, etc.
tuberist
951 posts
 
I watched the video and thought it was a parody?

n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
@whart : One of my hobbies is southern literature and criticism. I visit Faulkner's home in Oxford whenever we go. Eudora Welty's also but her home isn't all that interesting. Flannery O'Connors place in Georgia is run down but well preserved.

When you look at a lot of the web sites from these young local blues acts you will see that they frequently tour Europe, especially Scandinavia where they are greatly appreciated. At this Juke Joint Festival there are always lots of Europeans. Our friends own a B&B in a big old southern mansion and their primary customers are Europeans coming here for the blues.

@tuberist : If that video/song is a parody I'd give the guy some credit for hitting pop country right on the nose. I'd like to ask him at this event but would never do that. As much as I hate that kind of music I have no desire to put anyone down or hurt their feelings. Of course, there is a good chance he knows what sells and is just playing the market. I've seen some video of just him playing the guitar and that stuff seems a little more genuine. I hope we get more of that.
slaw's avatar
slaw
22,438 posts
 
I'd look at this as opportunity to expand my musical horizons. You just might find much to like. Hope you have a great time!
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