Thanks to everyone who attended this year's one-of-a-kind Juke Joint Festival & Related Events in Clarksdale, Mississippi, this past weekend. The attendance, weather and music were all amazing. Also, thanks to LiveBluesWorld.com's Eric Ashman for all of the marketing support on the front end and his own attendance at our jukey little blues fest. Special thanks also goes out to co-organizers Nan Hughes and Goldie Hirschberg as well as all of our volunteers, sponsors and vendors. We literally had dozens of blues acts perform over the course of the weekend -- including 15 acts at our nighttime juke joint/club venues on Saturday night, so it's pretty impossible to mention all of them. That said, some "Related Event" highlights include:
- Dick Waterman's memories of finding the long-lost Delta bluesman Son House, during our Walk of Fame dedication for Mr. House. (Also, thanks to Mr. Waterman for letting us use one of his iconic images on the Walk of Fame plaque... And thanks to our Chamber of Commerce, County Supervisors and everyone else you made the Walk a reality.)
- Honeyboy Edwards... speaking at Delta Blues Museum Friday, playing at the JJ Fest Saturday and Cat Head on Sunday. (Thanks to Michael Frank as always for that.)
- 83-yr-old "taildragger" James "T-Model" Ford's sold-out CD release party at Sarah's Kitchen on Friday night. Insanely good music from T-Model, Terry "Harmonica" Bean and drummer Lee Williams. (Special thanks to Mudpuppy Recordings' owner Kari Jones for stepping into the money-losing but amazingly fulfilling world of independent record labels. Please support her by logging on at http://www.mudpuppyrecordings.com )
- Jeff Konkel's ridiculously cool CD release party for the "Mississippi Marvel" on Sat evening... where the musician (Marvel) had to perform from inside an improvised tent to ensure his church deacon identity remained secret from his blues-fearing congregation. Great music if a bit weird -- hearing all but seeing nothing! (One note: Personally, one of my favorite moments of the whole weekend was seeing/hearing Marvel warming up back stage before the show. Killer voice and very unique guitar style; check out his CD at http://www.brokeandhungryrecords.com )
- Two days of absolute real-deal, gut-bucket Delta blues out front of Cat Head. Ok. Sure, that's my store... but it doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, myself. It quite simply doesn't get any better than guys like Robert Belfour, T-Model Ford, Pat Thomas, Eddie Cusic, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, Honeyboy Edwards, Bilbo Walker, etc. Names like THESE are the names that should grace every single blues festival in the world. No soul, r&b or rock here (well, except for Bilbo's Chuck Berry influences). Just hard, hard blues... The stuff most folks think doesn't exist anymore.
- On Sat night at the jukes, there was just too much to even try to see, but some highlights (for me, anyway) included Jimbo Mathus at Messenger's (packed and sweaty; poor sound; incredible performance and vibe!), Big Jack Johnson at Red's Lounge (REALLY packed but absolutely beautiful; like crawling inside the movie "Deep Blues"), Bilbo Walker at Sarah's Kitchen (Muddy Waters meets Sam Cooke meets Chuck Berry with a touch of old-timey country music -- and what's wrong with that?!), AND Wesley "Junebug" Jefferson at Annie Belle's Lounge (this was perhaps the best kept secret of the festival; timely yet old-school blues with a largely local audience and a wonderful juke joint look and feel; PLUS... the late night [homemade] burger joint attached to the juke served up some tasty burgers for the ride home!)

Not sure what else to tell y'all except that NEXT YEAR'S Juke Joint Festival & Related Events will be April 17-19, 2009. I am not exaggerating to say that you simply must book your rooms ASAP. All of the possible rooms in and nearby town will book up in the coming months. For a complete list of accommodations, please go to http://www.cathead.biz/guide.html . The festival web site is http://www.jukejointfestival.com . Thanks again for everyone who attended and/or supported the fest! -- Roger Stolle at Cat Head

P.S. Upcoming events in Clarksdale include our small-but-mighty "Clarksdale Caravan Music Fest" at Cat Head and Theo's Rock N Roll & Blues Heritage Museum during the day on Sat May 10th; it's free. ALSO, that night (May 10th), it's Blues Music Award nominees Jimmy "Duck" Holmes and 76-year-old BIG GEORGE BROCK at Ground Zero Blues Club at 8pm -- http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com . For more stuff, go to http://www.msbluestrail.org OR http://www.cathead.biz/livemusic.html