Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival

Twenty four years ago, I lived in West Memphis, Arkansas and was the mother of a four-month old daughter. During that same time, my hometown, Clarksdale, had given birth to one of their babies - the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival. And like my daughter, it has grown and taken on a life of its own.

The 24th annual Sunflower Fest is scheduled to start this Friday, August 12. Tourists, visitors, artists, and friends are already in town. The numbers will grow throughout the week. They come from all over the world. Several make the trek every year. I've only attended a little over half of the festivals. Actually, it was in its third or fourth year before I was even aware of it. I had happened to come home for a visit and it was going on. Was pleasantly surprised.

My Daddy, Don "Boogie Woogie" Mooneyhan

My Daddy had known about the festival from the beginning and, except for the last couple of years, came to Clarksdale for all the festivals. Many times he came down from Tate County, Mississippi, with Mr. Otha Turner, R. L. Boyce, and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. After they would play their first venue, Daddy would ride with the group in the back of an old truck, singing and playing, to the main stage. Mr. Turner has passed away. I think Daddy sees R.L. from time to time and Mr. Turner's granddaughter, Sharde, carries on the tradition of fife playing. The band continues to make the yearly pilgrimage to Clarksdale.

Daddy at Stovall, checking out Muddy's Blues Trail Marker.

Other musicians on the agenda for this year include Pat Thomas, Kenny Brown, T-Model Ford, Bill Abel, and Johnny "Duck" Holmes. The Delta Blues Museum Band kicks off the festival on the main stage, Friday at 4:15. There will be many acts at various venues throughout the weekend. To name a few, Ground Zero Blues Club, Red's, Bluesberry Cafe, The Den, Hopson Commissary, and Cathead. For full schedules check out individual websites. The festival website is www.sunflowerfest.org.

One of my favorite bands, the members of which are really dear friends, will play one of my favorite venues on Saturday night, August 13. Blues Award winner, James "Super Chikan" Johnson and the Fighting Cocks will be at Ground Zero Blues Club. No matter where I see them play, or how many times I see them on stage, they bring the house down. The entertainment does not get any better, in my opinion. Below are pics from their performances at the 2010 Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.

"Super Chikan and The Fighting Cocks"

Super Chikan and guest, Baby Boy

Jamiesa Turner

Torey Todora (filling in for Heather Tackett Falduto)

And my very dear friend, LaLa

The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is just one of the many treasures Clarksdale has to offer. Come visit my hometown!

Delta Backroads

"knows the cure is to go buzzing around these delta backroads with my camera, a cold beverage, and pandora on the airwaves. come on cooler weather. please."

i posted this as my status on facebook earlier today. and there's no truer statement. i've gone down delta backroads many a time to cure what ails me. and the rare times i couldn't be fixed, the ride sure made me better than i was.

riding the roads of the delta is something i've done near daily for the past 49 years. the ride is a ritual. it is in my blood. not sure that i could exist without riding delta backroads. i can do it solo or with a loved one. i've just got to do it.

i hear so many comments from those visiting the delta for the first time about how flat and vast the land is. many think that what they see is the way the delta has always looked. definitely not so. many, many changes have taken place. wish i could print the picture i see in my mind so they could see how it was when i was just a small girl. seems you could just look out and see flat land for days.

i've watched the cycles of planting and harvesting in the fields. depending on the time of year, the view is either lush spreads of green, solid fields of white, or barren winter brown. i've seen the delta land go from being dusty, bone-dry, and thirsting for rain to later covered over with water from the melting northern rivers and flashfloods.

i've seen tenant shacks, massive barns, grain elevators, beautiful old homes, backroads, and hundreds of acres of cropland vanish before my eyes and replaced with massive monster-like casinos, shopping centers, hotels, parking lots, and subdivisions. Not to mention miles and miles of highway.

i've deeply expanded my appreciation of music because of my delta backroad trips. remember that music is definitely an intregal part of any delta backroad trip. i've gone from having just AM radio, to FM radio, 8 tracks, cassettes, cds, satellite, and currently my favorite, pandora. just as the scenery changes on every backroad trip, so should the musical background.

i've traveled delta backroads both as a passenger and as the navigator. and i must say i favor being the navigator. navigating is my cup of tea. especially when i don't know where i'm going. on really good trips, there is no dictation of direction. and usually, no road goes the same place twice. for sure, no matter where i go or how far, i always find my way home.

if you happen to visit the mississippi delta, come on down to clarksdale, my hometown, and treat yourself to a ride on one of my delta backroads. i'm sure it'll cure what ails you. so come on and ride those blues away.

and remember, all delta backroad trips are guaranteed memorable adventures!

{all photographs taken by me during my backroad ventures}

And who am I ?

Well, I'm Kim. Kim M Crouch. Also known as "Moma Sita".

I came to Clarksdale, as a child of divorce, in 1967. I lived and grew up here. In 1984, at 21 years of age, I up and left here. Thought this was nothing but a hell-hole. I was tired of the small-town and all the drama that comes with it. I hated the flat Delta land. I wanted something better. So North I headed.

I settled in Memphis, Tennessee, which is not too far up Highway 61 from Clarksdale. But, it was close enough away for me to spread my wings. (So to speak) I secured employment and after several months found that I needed to slow myself down. I wasn't a City girl. That was for sure.

I crossed the Mississippi River into Arkansas and lived with a cousin in West Memphis until I could find a place of my own. It wasn't long before I met Jimmy. My husband of 24 years. (long time, I know!) We started our family and lived in West Memphis until 1997.

We moved to Sherard, Mississippi in the fall of '97. Sherard is on Highway 1, in West Coahoma county. Our own little piece of Delta dirt. Can see the levee from our front porch. Just miles from the Mississippi River.

So, I've been back "home" for nearly 13 years. You know they say you can't go back home again. I've found that to be true and false in so many ways.

While things are now certainly more different at "home" than back in the day I grew up here, there's a lot that still remains. Generations of families still here. The dusty flat land is still here. The never ending rows of crops are still here. The laziness of the South is still here. Racial issues are still here. And, the small-town drama is still here. All this remains from yester-years.

The logistics, economy, neighborhoods, and population of Clarksdale has changed. For sure. That part of "home" is gone. Long gone. The streets are the same. They just don't take you to the same places. Visually, the foundation and structure of Clarksdale is here. But the inside, the soul, needs motivation and renovation.

Today, our history and cultural is even greater and deeper, the music is alive and becoming even more increasingly so. And, I'm ashamed to say I didn't realize what we had or appreciate these things during my childhood. It saddens me to think of all those years I wasted, when I could have been learning and experiencing all I see now.

Yes, my eyes are open. I see it all. Perfect vision. I know what it was and I know what it can be. I believe in what's in store for the future. Many good things are happening. Thousands are already participating. I see where we're headed and I'm very excited and interested in traveling this journey.

And No Place Like Home where you get to go along.

Gotta Start Somewhere!

There's no place like home. My home, Clarksdale, Mississippi. Coahoma County. The Delta.

No where else I'd rather be. I love it here. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The new, the old, and the in-between.

We still have several life-long residents here. We have also had many transplants to join us. And our number of visitors grows daily.

It's a mystical, musical, and magical place. No where on earth like it! No place like home!

And, the intent of this blog is to share stories of Clarksdale, my home, with you.