The Associated Press 

JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Blues Trail is going international.

Mississippi has erected more than 150 Blues Trail markers to highlight the music and its influence on Mississippi. A marker to be unveiled Friday, August 3 in Notodden, Norway, is the first international marker. It will be unveiled during the 25th Annual Notodden Blues Festival.

Alex Thomas, with the Mississippi Development Authority's tourism division, says the marker reinforces the global influence of a genre born in Mississippi.

The Notodden Blues Festival has hosted dozens of artists from Mississippi. In 1996, Notodden and Clarksdale, Miss., became sister cities with cultural exchanges including performances by Norwegian artists at Clarksdale's annual Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival.

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CAT HEAD DELTA BLUES & FOLK ART IN CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI, CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY

(Cat Head store in Clarksdale. Photo art by Chuck Lamb)

(CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI) – 10 years ago, marketing executive Roger Stolle left his corporate job in St. Louis to pursue a blues mission in the Mississippi Delta. He opened Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in the historic downtown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. And the rest is history.

"Cat Head is the store I always wanted to walk into but could never find," Stolle remembers. "It's nothing but the blues – CDs, DVDs, books, magazines, artwork, T-shirts and souvenirs. We get tourists from around the world every week."

Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art will celebrate its 10th anniversary August 10-12 with free, live blues performances starting Friday afternoon and culminating Sunday with the store's annual Cat Head Mini Blues Festival.

Since opening in 2002, the Cat Head and its related projects have garnered numerous honors – from Keeping the Blues Alive and Blues Music Awards to multiple guidebook inclusions and accolades in music magazines such as Paste, which called Cat Head "one of the 17 coolest record stores in America."

(Lt: Stolle with Blues Music Award. Photo by Dusty Scott)

Still, Stolle is quick to point out that Cat Head is just about selling product.

"From day one, my mission – the Cat Head mission – has been to 'organize and promote from within'," he says. "I didn't really move here to open a retail store, specifically. I moved here to get involved with Delta blues music and promote the surviving culture behind it."

Starting with his Cat Head blues store, Stolle went on to co-found Juke Joint Festival and Clarksdale Film Festival. He is also a Blues Revue magazine columnist and Sirius-XM B.B. King Bluesville radio correspondent. He is author of Hidden History of Mississippi Blues and co-producer of films such as M for Mississippi and We Juke Up in Here.

"What makes Cat Head successful is Clarksdale, Mississippi – the locals as well as the tourists and transplants our town attracts," he asserts. "Customers often say to me, 'You must really love the blues to have moved here.' I say, 'Yes, the music brought me here, but it's the people that made me stay.'"

Cat Head is located at 252 Delta Avenue in Clarksdale. More of the "Cat Head story" as well as a live music calendar and guide to Clarksdale can be found on-line at www.cathead.biz.

CAT HEAD 10TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT SCHEDULE:

Friday, August 10th:

4pm - Zach Divilbiss from

Black Mountain Moan

Saturday, August 11th:

11am - SUPERBAD String Band w/R.L. BBQ & Mason Stevens

Noon - Piano Red

1pm - Christian Herring True Blues

2pm - Sean “Bad” Apple

3pm - David Raye

4pm - Davis Coen

Sunday, August 12th: CAT HEAD MINI BLUES FEST with Robert “Wolfman” Belfour, Big George Brock, Clarine Wagner, R.L. Boyce & Steve Toney, All Night Long Blues Band and more. Free event in street near Cat Head store. Rain or shine. Store opens 9am. Music 10am till. BBQ available from Big Red.

(Poster/T-shirt art above by Grego) 

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DELTA BLUES MUSEUM FREE EVENTS FOR THE 25TH ANNUAL SUNFLOWER RIVER BLUES AND GOSPEL FESTIVAL

The Delta Blues Museum will offer a full calendar of free events for this year's 25th Annual Sunflower Blues and Gospel Festival, August 8-12.

[Museum admission fees apply during regular hours.]

Wednesday, August 8

- 5:30 pm True Delta Screening at Delta Cinema, 11 Third Street, followed by panel discussion, "State of the Blues," moderated by Living Blues magazine co-founder Jim O'Neal. True Delta is a cinematic snapshot of the blues tradition in and around Clarksdale.

- 7 pm - 9 pm Reception for True Delta photography exhibit at Delta Blues Museum, featuring photographs by Michael Scanlan taken from the film. Also on display: "Celebrating 25 Years of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival," a new exhibit, DBM galleries.

Thursday, August 9

- 1 pm Panel discussion: "25 Years of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival," in the museum classroom. The panel will be moderated by Mississippi Blues Trail Historian Jim O'Neal, festival co-founder, and features Patty Johnson, festival co-founder; Catherine Clark, festival treasurer and volunteer since the beginning; and Melville Tillis, who co-founded the Gospel Festival with the late James Julius Guy. This is the inaugural program in the museum's "From the Archive" series ...

- 6 pm "Grits & Greens Party" for VIP Festival Patrons, on DBM grounds

Friday, August 10

- 10 am Mississippi Blues Trail Marker dedication for the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, on DBM grounds

- 4 pm Sunflower River Blues Festival begins

Saturday, August 11

- 9 am Sunflower Festival performances begin

Sunday, August 12

- Noon - 5 pm DBM open, special hours for Sunflower Festival Weekend ($7 admission) Charlie Musselwhite and the Museum Band in the Muddy Waters Addition

- 2 pm Fundraiser for Arts & Education Program, featuring Charlie Musselwhite and his band; Lightnin' Malcolm, and others, at the Juke Joint Chapel, Shack Up Inn [donation required].

 - 5 pm Gospel Festival begins, on the DBM stage

For more information contact the Delta Blues Museum 662-627-6820

The Delta Blues Museum is located at #1 Blues Alley in downtown Clarksdale.

INTERVIEW: KNON's DON O. KNOWS HIS DALLAS BLUES 

Freddie King

Alan Ayo/Dallas Observer  Don O. has been spinning blues records on KNON since 1983, literally about a month after they went on the air. See, he was a listener of the pre-KNON station at that frequency, KCHU, from '75 until they were switched off in '77. Heartbroken at the station's demise and subsequent absence of blues on the airwaves, Don jumped at the chance to volunteer a true blues show to the station. Among his projects at KNON is their series of blues compilation CDs, the first few of which are now highly collectible and out-of-print. Volume 5 just come out.

A huge fan of Freddie King in particular, every year around King's birthday he does a special show in tribute. This year, assuming their upcoming pledge drive goes well, the Freddie King tribute goes down on Friday, August 31, at 6 p.m.

In asking you to tell the story of the Dallas blues, it actually turns out there's another story behind that phrase. (Photo RT: Don O.)

One of the first blues songs ever published was titled "The Dallas Blues," in 1912. It was written by a white guy from Oklahoma City with lyrics added by a songwriter from New Orleans, but there it is, several months before W.C. Handy did his thing with it in Memphis. I can't wait to see what will happen in relation to that with the 508 Park project. Their first event back in June was marvelous.

I understand school played no role in your blues passion whatsoever?

None. Music class was always a bore to me. Maybe if they spent more time talking about T-Bone Walker, Bessie Smith, Freddie King or Albert Collins, I would have been more interested. It always fascinated me that most music classes concentrated on old dead European guys like Mozart and Beethoven. I'm all for that, but that's European culture. Where's the love for blues, jazz soul, and other true American forms of music? How can you have a class about music and not mention Ray Charles? I'm old and it's been a long time since I was in school. I hope things have changed.

Care to assemble a starter kit of DFW-based blues for interested beginners?

The "starter kit" would have to include history. "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, The Dallas String Band, "Blind" Willie Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Black Ace, 508 Park Avenue, Alex Moore, Lil' Son Jackson, Freddie King and others.

And the newer, lesser-known names?

That's a slippery slope for anyone who loves the scene as much as I do. I love 'em all. Well, most of them, but here's a few that deserve a lot more attention than they have been getting. Not that any of them are actually getting attention! Aaron Burton, one of the most talented blues songwriters I know of, and an outstanding acoustic guitarist. Christian Dozzler, imported from Vienna, Austria. He moved here because of our blues scene. A multi-threat on piano, harmonica, accordion, vocals and songwriting. An amazing talent. Larry Lampkin (pictured at left), a young man from Fort Worth that released his first CD last year. Great guitar playing and vocals on all original material. I can't wait to see what he does next. Jason Elmore, a protege of Jim Suhler and a fine guitarist, singer and songwriter. Already getting some notice out-of-state. Andrea Dawson, a talented lady with a huge voice, all she needs is fresh original material to start making waves. K.M. Williams, a Hill Country stomp-style guitarist who regularly plays in Italy. The country, not the Texas town. He was on the Chicago Blues Festival the last two years. He plays little BBQ joints in Big D. He also fronts a three-piece called Trainwreck which is loud, in your face, and a lot of fun. Then there's those musicians whose names you should know, but probably don't. These are the names who should be showing up on your "Best of Dallas" listings every year, but never do.

Please, enlighten us!

Lucky Peterson, Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King, Mike Morgan, Anson Funderburgh, Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones, Ernie Johnson, Bobby Patterson, Hash Brown, Gregg Smith, Tutu Jones, Josh Alan, Paul Byrd, Zac Harmon, Vernon Garrett, Paul Harrington, James Hinkle, Wanda King, who is Freddie's daughter, Cookie McGee, Dave Millsap, Johnnie Red, Holland K. Smith, Ray Reed, Texas Slim, Kenny Traylor, Chris Watson, Buddy Whittington, Blues Boy Bo, Jim Suhler, Sonny Collie, Kirkland James, J.B. Wynn, Big Charles Young, R.L. Griffin, Jerry Clark, Chester Burns, Butch Bonner, Joel Foy, James Butler, Lil' Jay, Perry Jones, Lady Lotion, Miss Marcy, Ray Sharpe, Jeff Stone, Harold Walker, Cheryl Arena and many more.

...Continue reading this cool interview by clicking here

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INTERNATIONAL BLUES MUSIC DAY INITIATIVE

Johnny Childs sent out this update about his new project:

"Hello, I'm contacting all my blues friends who may know about this little initiative I started last year to establish an International Blues Music Day!

WE HAVE SET A DATE! International Blues Music Day is coming: August 3, 2013. Our FB [Facebook] group has reached 12,000 supporting members and we have formed a non profit organization whose sole purpose is the establishment and promotion of International Blues Music Day.

We have launched the IBMD T-shirt line to help finance our start up costs. We have six designer prints plus the limited edition "Inaugural" T-shirt. If possible, please check check out the STORE or share with your blues loving friends. Thank you very much for your support.

RAISE THE ROOF: CAMPAIGN FOR THE BLUES HALL OF FAME

Attention Blues Fans:

The Hall of Fame pays tribute to the greatest of the genre and educates new people about the genre. The Blues Foundation has been inducting into the Blues Hall of Fame for years; it was just a simple evening with web presence. Nothing permanent. But now we need physical presence, and withyour help, we are going to get The Blues Hall of Fame building built in Memphis, Tennessee!

Here is a link with more details about the Blues Hall of Fame campaign:

(click line above or copy and paste URL into your browser)

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1411379570

Doesn’t this project sound important and exciting?

If not us, who? If not now, when?

Our goal is to raise awareness and funds to reach the goal of 3.5 million.

How to donate:

1. Make a multi-year pledge by signing the form and mail it, fax it or e-mail it. The form is available online at: http://www.blues.org/capitalcampaign/index.php. The fax is 901.529.4030.

2. Make a multi-year pledge online at: http://www.blues.org/capitalcampaign/index.php.

3. Make a one-time donation by calling with a credit card or mailing a check.

3. Make a one-time donation online at: http://www.blues.org/capitalcampaign/index.php .

4. Text the word " blues " to 80077 to donate $10. When you receive a message to confirm, confirm by answering “YES.”

No effort is too small or unappreciated!

If not us, who? If not now, when? Just think, YOU can make

the Blues Hall of Fame a reality. Your support matters! 

Editor's Note: Thanks to Tall City Blues Festival, Music Matters Entertainment, A Music Company Inc., and Garvin Gate Blues Festival for helping to raise awareness about the Blues Hall of Fame. You too can get involved. Email us: Info@BluesFestivalGuide.com to get logos and links for your website or Facebook.

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Video of The Week

Robert Randolph Band : NOBODY

(Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007)

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

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