From The Clarion-Ledger

July 6, 2006

Grass Roots Blues Festival in Duck Hill offers stellar lineup

By Scott Barretta

Special to The Clarion-Ledger

This Saturday the Grass Roots Blues Festival in Duck Hill celebrates its fourth anniversary with a typically solid lineup of traditional blues, including several groups of young musicians.

Returning to the festival are Alabama's Willie King and his Liberators, Duck Hill's own Little Willie Farmer, Elmo Williams of Natchez, Greenville pianist Eden Brent and the Greenville-based Mississippi Delta Blues Revue featuring John Horton, Mississippi Slim, Tammy Gibson, Albert Folk, Ricky Johnson, William "Harpo" Harbison and Tommy "Wildcat" Collins.

The festival was established by the Duck Hill-based Action Communication and Education Reform of Mississippi to expose the talents of traditional musicians to local youth.

"The blues was born out of struggle and it's part of the culture that we want to ensure future generations don't forget," says ACER director Al White.

"We've got a lot of young artists this year. Homemade Jamz are out of Tupelo, and range in age from 8 to 14. The lead guitarist can sound just like Albert King and plays behind his back and with his teeth. We've also got a young group out of Winona called the Sunshine Band, whose guitarist took the workshop over in Itta Bena with B.B. King.

"Vanessia Young and the Pure Blues Express from Clarksdale are returning this year, and (Abbeville-based bluesman) Bill Perry is bringing a group of students he's teaching at the Delta Blues Museum," says White.

Perry recently took the group to perform in Chicago at the Chicago Blues Festival.

The idyllic festival site is located off Route 404 about four miles east of I-55. In case of rain it will be held at the Duck Hill gymnasium. The festival runs from noon to 10 p.m.

For details, visit www.grassrootsblues.com or call (662) 565-2478.

Scott Barretta is an Oxford-based writer and music critic. He is host of the Highway 61 blues radio show on MPB on Saturday nights.

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