Rising Star Fife & Drum Band - Station Blues - North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic 2010

The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band performs at the 5th annual North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic with Sharde Thomas singing and playing the fife. Ms. Thomas is the granddaughter of the late Otha Turner of Gravel Springs, Mississippi. African-American fife and drum music was heard across the Southeast at one time but Rising Star is one of the few such bands remaining.

Otha Turner held an annual picnic at his home in Gravel Springs, MS each year on the last weekend in August and since his death his family has carried on the tradition. The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, at which this performance was recorded, is patterned after Otha Turner's picnic and is a two-day event hosted by Kenny Brown who played guitar with blues legend R. L. Burnside.

More about Otha Turner:
http://www.othaturner.com

More about the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic:
http://www.nmshillcountrypicnic.com