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OCTOBER 2020
CAT HEAD UPDATE NEWSLETTER
"All the blues that's fit to print."
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Welcome to October and Clarksdale's socially-distanced month of festivals...
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Hey y'all. I hope this monthly CAT HEAD UPDATE from your blues home away from home — Clarksdale, Mississippi — finds you well. We're doing our best to hang in here in the land of the crossroads, and we're keeping super-crazy busy with daily music offerings and October festivals (some stuff virtually, some stuff in-person).
We've already had two fab fests this month with more to come (as you'll see below). I'd like to thank all y'all mask marauders who stopped by my store. I know these are trying times, but y'all prove that it's possible to enjoy amazing music and our friendly town while considering other folks' health and well-being. Thanks for helping out. Please clean up, mask up, socially distance and #VisitMSResponsibly.
More on masks at https://www.pressregister.com/clarksdale-maintains-city-mask-regulation#sthash.dYnxMCHr.dpbs.
Come see us when you're READY TO ROAD-TRIP! Music Calendar at cathead.biz/music-calendar. Also, check out a sampling of our weekly blues performances via LiveFromClarksdale.org. More tourism info at VisitClarksdale.com.
Please note CAT HEAD's new brick-n-mortar store hours: Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm; Saturday till 5pm. SHOP US ONLINE 24/7 at www.cathead.biz.
Stay well. Thanks, y'all! Roger (and Ayler Pug).
    
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"READY TO ROAD-TRIP?" Visit Clarksdale Tourism's new regional marketing campaign. #VisitMSResponsibly
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WATCH NEW 'VISIT CLARKSDALE' VIDEO: https://youtu.be/I50ZeRBLS7U.
Are y'all READY TO ROAD-TRIP? Clarksdale, Mississippi, is working hard to make you comfortable when you do. Our musicians, restaurants, shops and lodging are ready when you are... if y'all are ok with cleaning up, masking up and socially distancing. Please help us keep everyone safe and put on even more "live" music and events!
What IS there to do?
In addition to our increasing list of weekly in-person blues shows (6 days this week, for example)... check out Visit Clarksdale Tourism's free Audio Walking Tour app, or take an awesome personal tour with Delta Bohemian Tours (Billy Howell) or CDRY Touring (Cassandra Wilson). Enjoy the fresh air and water of a Quapaw Canoe Company excursion on Sunflower or Mississippi River. Check out our dozens of history markers, banners and sidewalk markers. Soak up our deep blues history at the Delta Blues Museum, and shop our eclectic downtown. Oh, did I mention that we have the coolest, most unique lodging options in the region? From rural shacks to downtown lofts, from chain hotels to historic B&Bs, our accommodations are more than accommodating.
READY TO ROAD-TRIP? Turn the key. Press the pedal on the right. And we'll see y'all soon... safely. - Roger @ Cat Head.
PLAN YOUR TRIP:
Visitclarksdale.com
Cathead.biz
Deltabluesmuseum.org
MSbluestrail.org
New Visit Clarksdale video!
New Visit Clarksdale tourism print ad, billboard and video still (billboard pic by Robin Colonas), below:
  
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Sounds Around Town and LiveFromClarksdale.org keeping "live" blues music alive at crossroads...
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Unlike probably anywhere else on the planet, Clarksdale kept its "live" blues music rolling throughout the entire pandemic! First online and now both online 7 days a week and in-person up to 7 days a week. Public, in-person shows require audience participation, of course, so please clean up, mask up and socially distance as you enjoy the real-deal. The Blues. #VisitMSResponsibly (or just wait to visit later, please).
WHO'S PLAYING WHERE?
Full Music Calendar - Cathead.biz/music-calendar.
Daily live-streams - Livefromclarksdale.org.
More things to do - VisitClarksdale.com.
    
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WHAT'S UP? New blues, jazz, Mississippi and other relevant info from the worldwide web...
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KING BISCUIT BLUES FEST in nearby Helena, AR, went virtual at https://kingbiscuitfestival.com/virtual/.
CRESCENT CITY BLUES & BBQ FEST in NOLA went virtual at https://bluesfest.jazzandheritage.org/?/blues-fest/.
BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE NEWSLETTER (October 8 & 15 issues) - https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1414765818 and https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1414776984.
BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE NEWSLETTER (October 8 & 15 issues) - http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/issue-14-41-october-8-2020/ AND http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/issue-14-42-october-15-2020/.
JEFFERSON MAGAZINE TRIBUTE TO BIG GEORGE BROCK - Oldest blues mag still in existence (founded in Sweden in 1968!) pays tribute to BGB - https://jeffersonbluesmag.com/artiklar/in-memoriam.
MISSISSIPPI HERITAGE TRUST - "Elevations" magazine issues online at https://www.mississippiheritage.com/elevation-issues-online.
ARTS NOW — MISSISSIPPI STATE ARTS CONFERENCE 2020 (Mississippi Arts Commission) - FREE online video panels available thru 11/9 include blues musicians Libby Rae Watson & Little Joe Ayers, Robert Kimbrough Sr., Delta Blues Museum's Shelley Ritter, YAC's Wayne Andrews and other interesting and informative folks - https://arts.ms.gov/arts-now-state-arts-conference-2020/
DELTA BLUES MUSEUM receives Mississippi Arts Commission grant - https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmyemail.constantcontact.com%2FFOR-IMMEDIATE-RELEASE---Delta-Blues-Museum-Receives-MAC-Grant.html%3Fsoid%3D1101712342608%26aid%3D8sJgCzoKmaY.
BB KING MUSEUM (INDIANOLA, MS) - Hours update... Open Thurs-Sat, 10am-5pm. Closed Sun-Wed. CLOSED Day before Thanksgiving after Noon; Thanksgiving Day; Week of Christmas (12/20-26, 2020); New Year's Eve after Noon; New Year's Day.
BB KING MUSEUM ONLINE LEARNING ACTIVITIESS - https://bbkingmuseum.org/visit/education/.
BOBBY RUSH & GRAMMY MUSEUM MISSISSIPPI - Event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtJud_e2lE0.
100 MEN HALL BLUES SHOW 11/13 - Bay St. Louis, MS - https://the100menhall.com/pages/cedric-burnside-and-alvin-youngblood-hart-together-at-the-hall.
ALICE MAE BLUES FESTIVAL IN RIPLEY - https://www.djournal.com/sentinel/living/alice-mae-blues-festival-slated-for-saturday/article_aacc4c38-dd5f-55b9-8ad5-4efb83b82bd6.html.
BB KING'S LIFE GOES HOLLYWOOD - Actor Wendell Pierce to play bluesman B.B. King in biopic - https://ew.com/movies/wendell-pierce-play-blues-legend-b-b-king/.
GUITARIST FOR HEART, ROGER FISHER, REFLECTS ON MS DELTA VISIT - https://mailchi.mp/coopwood/the-edit-q23w47q7h6?e=23cd714938.
VALERIE JUNE CURATES LIVE-STREAM EVENT - Evoking the spirit of NIna Simone, Memphis-raised Valerie June has curated Voice Your Vote — an "experience crystalizing the urgency of the causes dear to the hearts of Black American artists" and featuring Brittany Howard, Devon Gilfillian, Jon Batiste, Valerie June and many more - https://citywinery.com/newyork/cwtv-livestream-valerie-june-city-winery-present-voice-your-vote-10-18-20.html.
DELTA NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA - Grants Workshops, 10/27-28 - https://mdnha.formstack.com/forms/grants_workshop.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH - Southern Futures podcast - https://southernfutures.unc.edu/thepodcast/.
CLARKSDALE'S HIGHER PURPOSE CO. - 10/24 (10am) 5th Annual Money Purpose Success Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit. https://HigherPurposeCo.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2b505e5aaab5021a5c81f61ca&id=408f3bc410&e=cf3d5fa498.
RECORDING ACADEMY REVEALS BLACK MUSIC COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL - https://mailchi.mp/grammy/recording-academy-reveals-black-music-collective-leadership-council?e=590d7c6444.
LEVITT AMP VIRTUAL MUSIC - Series highlights online at https://vimeo.com/showcase/levittamp.
PHAROAH SANDERS TURNS 80 - Legendary sax player, free-jazz icon - Birthday show and playlist - https://48hills.org/2020/10/a-playlist-celebrating-pharaoh-sanders-80th-trip-around-the-sun/.
JOHNNY NASH, RIP - "I Can See Clearly Now" singer passes away - https://pitchfork.com/news/johnny-nash-i-can-see-clearly-now-singer-dead-at-80/.
AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE: BLUES FOR 2020 — interesting new article in Jazz Times. "The trumpeter's creative path has led him through Muddy Waters and Messiaen, Björk and Lester Bowie." We also learn his Mom is from the Mississippi Delta at https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/ambrose-akinmusire-blues-for-2020/.
MAKING A SCENE indie music e-newsletter - https://www.makingascene.org/?na=v&nk=5215-ee656caab9&id=375.
DELTA BOHEMIAN STORY - Clarksdale drummer Bill Harlow is a car guy; get your oil changed at his place when you visit! https://deltabohemian.com/clarksdalian-bill-harlow-has-always-liked-cars/.
SPEAKING OF CARS (another of my hobbies!) - New R&T "premium, lifestyle" collectible car magazine from publishers of Road & Track (hopefully a bit like the old Automobile Magazine of the mid-1980s and 90s) - https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a33498295/meet-randt-lifestyle-brand/.
FAREWELL TO EDDIE VAN HALEN - RIP - https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2020-10-06/eddie-van-halen-guitar-dies-65.
 
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WIN-WIN? Yes. Shop Cat Head's expanded web store to support blues and get something cool!
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We've got tons of new stuff, restocks and classics — CDs, vinyl, DVDs, books, art, shirts, hats, drinkware, Cat Head logo'd exclusives and more — in our expanded web store at www.cathead.biz. Thanks, y'all!
     
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BLUES MUSIC MAGAZINE... Read new issue online, including Cat Head column! (Then, subscribe.)
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BLUES MUSIC MAGAZINE! Dion still has the blues after Runaround Sue. Kat Riggins and others get profiled. Bob Margolin takes to blues radio. And Roger Stolle (yours truly) talks tourism, Cat Head and the new Bad Apple Blues Club. Read mag for free at https://indd.adobe.com/view/82b7442c-1461-43f9-ae83-b900a19f4542. Rather buy a print copy? Either subscribe at bluesmusicstore.com, or drop by Cat Head blues store in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Also, check out Clarksdale's pandemic blues successes in the new AAA SOUTHERN TRAVELER magazine at http://services.autoclubmo.aaa.com/traveler/south/2013/07/tank-trips.html.
Plus, check out the snapshots of other Clarksdale blues mentions in the magazines like BLUES & RHYTHM (excellent UK blues mag!) and AMERICAN TRAILS...
    
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Can't visit yet? Plan for January and April festivals in Clarksdale, Mississippi...
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We are absolutely holding our CLARKSDALE FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL and JUKE JOINT FESTIVAL events this year, and we're deep into our health & safety planning. We will do what is necessary — and ask the same of y'all — to present fun, safe fests in the land of the crossroads in 2021. Details to come (of course), but please book your hotel rooms and such ASAP. (Rooms are already mostly booked for April's JJF!)
Info as it's available at ClarksdaleFilmFestival.com and JukeJointFestival.com. Plus, general Music Calendar at https://www.cathead.biz/music-calendar.
  
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CLARKSDALE'S OCTOBER FESTIVALS... Willing to mask up and socially distance? Then, come on!
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2 weekends left in October... 3 fun blues events! Light Blues Fest & Chili Cookoff this weekend, plus both the Hambone Festival and Cruzn The Crossroads next weekend... which leads (again) to the question: READY TO ROAD-TRIP?
CALENDARS AND MORE AT:
https://www.cathead.biz/music-calendar
VisitClarksdale.com
LiveFromClarksdale.org
  
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Deak's Harmonica Block Party last weekend... Smaller? Yes. Successful? Yes! Thanks, y'all.
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Thanks to harmonica man Deak Harp (along with his sponsors, volunteers and attendees) for a lovely day of harp-base blues action just around the corner from Cat Head. Thanks also to everyone who made us feel safer by cleaning hands, wearing masks and socially distancing. Because of y'all, we'll be able to continue hosting public music in what Alan Lomax called, The Land Where Blues Began. Relive some of the fest's music at https://www.facebook.com/109997030674582/videos/1654429351402050.
  
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RIP Reverend John Wilkins — Memphis & Mississippi icon played Clarksdale's DBF & JJF.
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I did not know Reverend John Wilkins well, but I did book him for Juke Joint Festival a few times and also include him on a King Biscuit Blues Festival Symposium panel a couple years back. (He almost appeared in our free web series, Moonshine & Mojo Hands, too.) He was such a super-cool dude and always a pleasure to deal with. He was also a regular performer on Clarksdale's Deep Blues Fest. Our music buddy Amos Harvey was his manager and friend. Our condolences go out to Amos as well as Rev Wilkins family. RIP.
MEMPHIS FLYER TRIBUTE: https://www.memphisflyer.com/MusicBlog/archives/2020/10/07/in-memoriam-reverend-john-wilkins-a-life-well-lived.
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New "Delta Download" interview with blues photographer-great Bill Steber...
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Even if y'all blues fans don't know Bill Steber, y'all definitely know his iconic (mostly B&W) Mississippi blues images of the past few decades. Amazing stuff. Amazing. Oh, and Bill's nice guy, too. (Ask him about his collections of folk art and Sun Ra records!) Read new interview, bio and photo links at https://deltadownload.com/bill-steber?fbclid=IwAR1cQ2yX9truIccEwu03PC5leATgGaPP55gQM7k6tHo4s3iW4-FNvTuOXIA.
Photo of cat, Jack Owens and Bud Spires by Bill Steber:
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(Mini) DEEP BLUES FEST a rockin' blues success! Come back for the FULL SIZE version in 2021...
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Congrats to DEEP BLUES FEST for pulling off a fun, safe (if albeit smaller) DBF weekend. Clarksdale thanks y'all. Live blues 'n roots music was mainly held outdoors at Shack Up Inn with a few events at the purposely (and, in this case, usefully) roofless New Roxy. Watch a sampling of the music in rerun at https://www.facebook.com/deepbluesfest/videos/?ref=page_internal. Plan to visit in 2021 at deepbluesfest.com and visitclarksdale.com.
   
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And finally... a few more new items in CAT HEAD's web store. (Plus lots more in our brick 'n mortar!)
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Visit Cat Head — Mississippi's blues store in Clarksdale since 2002 — Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm, plus Sat till 5pm at 252 Delta Ave., downtown. Or SHOP US ONLINE 24/7 at www.cathead.biz. The pandemic has been tough on tourism, blues and small businesses, but we're still here and shipping daily!
        
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"Live" blues out front of CAT HEAD on Sat., 10/31, with LUCIOUS SPILLER at 12 noon...
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I know, I know... but I gotta say it. Lucious is (rightfully so) only willing to perform publicly on CAT HEAD's legendary front porch so long as we all clean up, mask up and socially distance. Lucci ain't no spring chicken, and his health and ability to play gigs (public or virtual) is super important to his personal economy. So, let's do it, and enjoy some killer blues in the fresh Mississippi Delta air, y'all! I can't wait. Oh, and as Lucious says, "Tippin ain't no city outside of Clarksdale!" I plan to TIP TIP TIP THE BAND. :)
Pic from earlier, maskless times. Some might argue that our infamous mugs benefit from the current coverage...
 
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