Clarksdale, MS, and the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival - mid-August every year

Clarksdale
Clarksdale, a fading relic of the Mississippi delta, hosts one
of the last of the free music festivals every year.

HardwareDelta delight: Clarksdale is a sleepy delta town of about 20,000 residents located on the banks of the Sunflower River about two hours south of Memphis. It vies with other Mississippi towns for bragging rights as the birthplace of the blues. Clarksdale is home to the internationally known Delta Blues Museum and "the crossroads," where legend has it that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the stroke of midnight in exchange for the ability to play the blues. Legendary blues growler Muddy Waters was born nearby and a variety of bluesmen, notably Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk and Ike Turner, spent much time in the town. Clarksdale is also the home of Morgan Freeman's five-star restaurant Madidi and his blues club Ground Zero. The Shack Up Inn on the edge of town features unique lodging in authentic sharecropper shacks. Blues harpist Charlie Musselwhite has part ownership in many of the town's older buildings. Clarksdale was named for founder John Clark, brother-in-law of politician James Lusk Alcorn, whose plantation home is nearby.

Brock
A documentary film crew recorded the set of veteran blues
group Big George Brock & the House Rockers.
Foreign intrigue: By one estimate, approximately 25,000 music fans from 17 countries and 35 states attended the 2005 festival. It is not unusual to see Norwegians and French Canadians in Clarksdale for the festival. In 1996 Clarksdale became the official international Sister City of Notodden, Norway, home of Europe's largest blues festival. The Sunflower and the International Notodden Blues Festivals are sister festivals with Clarksdale musicians performing in Norway, and Norwegian musicians performing in Clarksdale. The Sunflower has also established a sister festival relationship with the Maximum Blues Festival in Quebec, Canada. Australian and Italian blues acts have been heard in and outside the Delta Amusement Cafe in recent years.
Luther Superchikan
Luther Dickenson of the North Mississippi Allstars,
left, and Superchikan Johnson pumped up the energy
as headliners at the 2006 festival.

Jumping juke joints: A big part of the music scene in Clarksdale involves the town's eclectic selection of juke joints. Red's Lounge, Sarah's Kitchen, Messenger's, Club 2000, Delta Blues Room, Ground Zero Blues Club, Hopson Commissary, My Brother's Sports Bar and Anniebell's Lounge are among Clarksdale's featured venues for its annual Juke Joint Festival every April. After the Sunflower festival performances, visitors commonly crowd into the steamy and small jukes for all-night blues sessions. The most famous of the joints is the Po' Monkey Lounge, a ramshackle, low-ceilinged shack 15 minutes south in a cotton field outside Merigold, where the locals gather for Thursday night rave ups.


GuitaristPat Thomas, blues performer and artist, displays his distinctive plucking style during the annual Saturday morning concert at Clarksdale's refurbished train station. Below, Thomas' latest cat drawings go on sale outside the station. Almost any flat surface - from book covers to plastic trays - serve as mediums for his works.

 

Cat's meow: Raymond "Pat" Thomas may be the Picasso of the Mississippi delta. His prolific "cat head" drawings have taken on a nearly legendary status in Clarksdale, spawning the name of the town's famed Cat DrawingsHead Delta Blues and Folk Art shop, where many of his works are on display. He has done literally thousands of drawings, paintings and sculptures using every imaginable medium, from plywood and cardboard to table tops and toilet seats. He is one of 13 children of legendary blues and folk artist James "Son" Thomas and is a featured performer at the blues festivals in Clarksdale and Leland, MS, every year. Selling his drawings outside the train station in Clarksdale during a recent blues festival, his sales pitch was compelling: "Help an artist get home?" he inquired. "Special price for you." When asked what the special price was, he sized up the customer and said $5 for anything on display.

Does

Feeling the heat: An interesting break from the blues fest can be found at Doe's Eat Place, a down-home restaurant in Greenville on the Mississippi River about an hour south of Clarksdale. The restaurant "chain" gained national attention when President Bill Clinton visited the Little Rock, AR, branch. While the sign for another branch still stands in Oxford, it no longer exists. The Greeneville restaurant is a challenge to find, being located on a side street with no signs in the town pointing the way. Doe's typically features steaks that are available in two sizes: a small one weighing in at two pounds, and a large one that is twice that size. Check out their tamales. One enters the restaurant, located in a humble house in a residential neighborhood, through the un-air-conditioned kitchen, which is breathtakingly hot.

RiversideTake me to the River(side): The place to stay in Clarksdale is the Riverside Hotel, a no-frills place that is loaded with history. Once Clarksdale's former G. T. Thomas Hospital where blues singer Bessie Smith died in 1937, it has been a hotel since 1944, operated by the ever-locquacious Frank "Rat" Ratliff, Ratright, who carries on the work of his mother who founded the hotel. Jackie Brenston, who recorded "Rocket 88," which is arguably the first rock 'n' roll song, at Sun Records in Memphis, is said to have written the song in the basement of the Riverside.