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JANUARY 2022
CAT HEAD UPDATE NEWSLETTER
"All the blues that's fit to print."
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HAPPY NEW YEAR from Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the blues rocks on — 365 nights a year!
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WHAT YEAR IS IT? DANG, WHAT DAY IS IT? And so begins my annual month of writing the wrong year on checks and wishing for spring! I hope your holidays were fabulous and the brand-new year brings you much health and happiness.
2022 is poised to be an amazing one here in Clarksdale — with new residents moving in... more downtown buildings getting renovated... around 15 festival type events planned... and the continuation of our legendary 'live' blues every nights (and many days).
Plan now for your next blues adventure at VisitClarksdale.com and https://www.cathead.biz/music-calendar.
HEALTH & SAFETY ARE STILL PARAMOUNT. Like pretty much everywhere else, Omicron is slowing folks down a bit here at the moment, but we'll get through it. If you're vaxed, please remember to get boosted, and if you aren't vaxed yet, please go to www.CDC.gov to learn why you should. At Cat Head, we are fully vaxed, boosted and ready to serve you. Yup. We're masking up, too. Thanks, y'all. We're all in this together.
THANKS FOR 19 YEARS. HERE'S TO 20! Cat Head survived the "first two years," the Great Recession and (so far) the global pandemic, and we thank you for it. Y'all have fueled our successes through store visits and online shopping. We literally couldn't have made it without you.
Celebrate the New Year and the start of Cat Head's 20th, by shopping now at www.cathead.biz. We've got plenty of awesome blues shirts, logo hats, Mississippi books, new vinyl records, classic CDs, local artwork and more.
Read on below for what's up down in the Delta, please stay safe, and come see us when you can.
THANKS AND BEST,
Roger (and Ayler, our paid spokespug)
PICS: Big George & me in the "before times." Merry Christmas, y'all. Ayler Pug was ready for New Year's!
  
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2022 Juke Joint Festival PRE-SALE Saturday-night Wristbands ON SALE NOW at jukejointfestival.com!
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In addition to the dozens of "Related Events" April 21-24, 2022, Clarksdale, Mississippi's world-famous Juke Joint Festival will again feature its legendary Saturday-night juke joint crawl! Buy your PRE-SALE WRISTBANDS now, only at https://jukejointfestival.com/wristbands.php, and enjoy nearly 30 acts in over 20 nighttime venues on Saturday, April 23rd — all for the price of a single wristband. But don't wait. Limited quantities. Don't risk a sellout like we had last year.
PLUS... Don't forget all of the (mostly) free daytime events Thursday through Sunday of festival weekend — including 13 free daytime JJF stages on that Saturday. And did I mention Monkeys Riding Dogs? Well, they'll be here, too (and it ain't a band, y'all).
2022 MUSIC LINEUP will be announced March 1st, so stay tuned on that.
NEED A HOTEL? It's best to call versus relying on online booking calendars. See the full lodging list at VisitClarksdale.com. Also, there will again be an RV Parking Lot, downtown, as well as tent camping by the Sunflower River; details via top menu on jukejointfestival.com website.
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Can't wait? Join us for a special music-only edition of the CLARKSDALE FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL, Jan. 28-30.
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We'd hoped to present a day of blues films from esteemed director Robert Mugge at our 12th annual Clarksdale Film & Music Festival (January 28-30, 2022), but Omicron had other ideas. Out of an abundance of caution, we've decided not to screen any movies this year. (We'll get our buddy Bob back another time.) Instead, the Clarksdale Film & Music Festival will simply sprinkle little 'live' blues shows all around town for two and a half days.
Got shot? Grab your mask for the venues that ask for it, and join us at multiple blues spots for some of our favorite local acts — including Sean "Bad" Apple, Lucious Spiller, Watermelon Slim, 19th Street Red, Terry "Big T" Williams, Bill Abel and more! More details later this week at clarksdalefilmfestival.com.
(PS - Rather wait till next year? Then, plan now for January 27-29, 2023.)
 
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SOUNDS AROUND TOWN keeps 'live' blues rolling every single day in historic Clarksdale, Mississippi...
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I still get the occasional visitor to Clarksdale who tells me the day after spending the night that they "didn't think there would be any 'live' music on a [insert day here]." It makes me sad to tell them that actually "such and such, and such and such" was playing. Anyway, sorry to always hammer on this, but Clarksdale really does have at least one 'live' blues show every single day (even holidays) — and usually more than one. Here's this past week, below, but you can see "this week" and beyond (including our 2022 festivals) on my CAT HEAD MUSIC CALENDAR at https://www.cathead.biz/music-calendar.
PLUS, check out LiveFromClarksdale.org for Clarksdale's WEEKLY LIVE-STREAMS, supported by Visit Clarksdale Tourism. We had a super one with James "Super Chikan" on New Year's Eve afternoon, socially-distanced in front of Cat Head. (Thanks, Colleen!) It's a good time, y'all. Catch it in replay at https://www.facebook.com/LiveFromClarksdale/videos/1118038282359688.
   
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Did Santa (or Aunt Bea) put some cash in your stocking? Spend it now in the fabulous CAT HEAD WEB STORE!
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You know we got the goods! Blues tees, Clarksdale hoodies, Cat Head ball caps, local artwork, hot new vinyl LPs, classic CDs, special DVD reissues, Mississippi books, drinkware (is that a word?) and... more! SHOP NOW at www.cathead.biz. I'm shipping daily from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Thanks, y'all.
              
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LATEST BLUES, MISSISSIPPI, CLARKSDALE, JAZZ AND RELATED NEWS. Check out the links below...
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- Read latest issue of Blues Music Magazine, and get ready for the upcoming issue featuring Clarksdale's Kingfish on the cover (pic below). Current issue at https://bluesmusicstore.com/bmo_feb_6_21/.
- Updates via The Blues Foundation newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/e5e518e6b676/december-2021-newsletter?e=c136b88de7.
- The latest Blues Festival Guide newsletter at https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1415612864.
- Book your Delta Bohemian Tour of Clarksdale and the Mississippi Delta today via https://deltabohemiantours.com/.
- ARSC Ten Notable Pre-1923 Recordings Nominees via our Clarksdale blues buddy Charlie Musselwhite at http://www.arsc-audio.org/publicdomainpre23.html.
- Latest newsletters from John "Riverman" Ruskey at Clarksdale's Quapaw Canoe Company, https://quapaw.substack.com/p/paddle-for-the-people-all-creation and https://quapaw.substack.com/p/low-angle-light-high-angle-dreams.
- Latest GRAMMY Museum Mississippi newsletter, https://mailchi.mp/grammymuseumms/happy-holidays-from-the-director-2021.
- Helena, AR, Delta Cultural Center's latest newsletter, https://t.e2ma.net/message/njfwlf/rq3yqbc.
- Latest event calendar for Memphis' very cool Crosstown Arts folks at https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/.
- Latest update from the Memphis Flyer (incl. music), https://mailchi.mp/memphisflyer/we-recommend-wr02zlp755?e=1d913d04a7.
- Music Maker Relief Foundation newsletter, https://musicmaker.org/stories/music-from-the-shadows/.
- International 'record store finder' at https://www.recordstores.love/3051.
- Read the latest issue of the excellent French blues magazine ABS at http://www.absmag.fr/. Or, like me, just look at the pictures.
- Latest 50 Miles of Elbow Room newsletter from our buddy Adam in NY at https://mailchi.mp/aaad86faeb57/gide98v782-5686017?e=83bfd9d7b4.
- Last month's holiday newsletter from one of our fav stores, just down the street from Cat Head... https://www.collective-seed.com/?mc_cid=ed1f150a4c&mc_eid=fb5d2a2e44.
- Last month's CAT HEAD UPDATE newsletter, in case you missed it! https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1415566638.
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International Blues Challenge (IBC) postponed by The Blues Foundation, due to pandemic...
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"The Blues Foundation Board of Directors has made the very difficult decision to postpone the 37th International Blues Challenge that was to take place January 18-22, 2022..." Read the full announcement at https://blues.org/urgent-update-ibc-2022-postponed/.
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The Blues Foundation announces this year's Keeping The Blues Alive award recipients...
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GoFundMe fundraisers for friends in the local
Mississippi blues community...
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Spirit of the Blues report published by Delta State University's Delta Center for Culture & Learning...
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"The Delta Center has published its report, Spirit of the Blues: Celebrating Roots of Delta Music Through Gospel and Spirituals. Generously funded by the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative, this three-year Mississippi Delta cultural heritage interpretation project supported Delta State University’s International Conference on the Blues and Mississippi Valley State University’s B.B. King Day Symposium..." Go here for the full report plus photos and Live From Clarksdale video: http://www.internationaldeltabluesproject.com/spirit-of-the-blues-project.
 
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New album coming soon from Clarksdale-born, Pre-War, Delta blues legend SON HOUSE, y'all!
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So... You wanna visit Mississippi's "Festival City" of Clarksdale? Okay... Here you go. Book rooms now!
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2022 CLARKSDALE FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS
- 4/21-24, 2022 - Juke Joint Festival & Related Events w/100 more blues acts; our biggest festival - www.jukejointfestival.com
- 4/24, 2022 - Cat Head 20th Anniversary Mini Blues Fest (post-JJF), www.cathead.biz
- 5/28, 2022 - 4th Red's Old-Timers Blues Fest returns to Memorial Day Weekend (downtown).
- usually Fall 2022 - annual Mag Fest (organized by the Magnuson brothers).
- 10/5-8, 2022 - near Clarksdale, MS, in Helena, AR - King Biscuit Blues Festival & Symposium, kingbiscuitfestival.com
- 10/9, 2022 - Super Blues Sunday: Tentatively including... Cat Head Mini Blues Fest (9am), Bluesberry Cafe Blues Breakfast (10am), Delta Blues Museum special hours (noon), Ground Zero Blues Club blues brunch (11am), Hopson Commissary/Shack Up Inn's Pinetop Perkins Celebration (3pm), Levon's Sunday Ramble (3:30pm), Hooker Grocer + Eatery (5pm), Red's Juke Joint Jam (7pm), Bad Apple Blues Club (7pm) and more!
- 10/13-16, 2022 - Deep Blues Fest (official and related blues & roots music events), www.deepbluesfest.com
MORE EVENT INFORMATION:
- Get vaxed HERE, y'all... thanks!
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That's all for now. Have a great start to the new year... and as always, THANKS, Y'ALL!
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CAT HEAD — Mississippi's blues store in Clarksdale since 2002 — is open every day but Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shop Mon-Fri 11am-4pm, Sat till 5pm and Sun till 3pm — or in our WEB STORE at www.cathead.biz.
 
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