PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: #513 : Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival

Clarksdale, Mississippi

August 12-15, 2021

By Phillip Smith; August 21, 2021

After my first trip down to Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in 2019, I knew I would want to go again. Last year the festival was cancelled due to Covid-19, but this year it returned, with one slight difference. The daytime acts on Saturday performed outdoors on an acoustic stage under the VIP tent, as opposed to being scattered around the downtown area in assorted bars, restaurants, and galleries. Ground Zero Blues Club also held a steady continuance of live music throughout the weekend as well.

The journey from Iowa to Clarksdale included a one-night stop in Memphis for a night out on Beale Street. The group I was travelling with held steady at King Jerry Lawler’s Hall of Fame Bar & Grille on Beale, for an evening of live music from The Beale Street All-Stars. Those guys put on a dazzling show and provided an enjoyable evening of entertainment.

On the way to Clarksdale Thursday morning, we made a stop at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas to catch the live broadcast of the legendary King Biscuit Time radio show. King Biscuit Time is the longest running blues radio program in the world, logging over 18,490 episodes since its inception in 1941, and can still be heard each weekday from 12:15pm – 12:45pm on KFFA out of Helena, or by streaming through the Delta Cultural Center’s Facebook page. Originally hosted by “Sunshine” Sonny Payne until 2018, the show is now hosted by my friend Thomas Jacques. It was great to catch up with Thomas as he gave us a tour and filled us in on the history of the show.

After checking in at the Shack Up Inn, we all headed to the Delta Blues Museum, where the festival is held, to enjoy an evening of blues accompanied by a delicious, down-home dinner of grits, greens, and barbeque. It was great to finally hear Lucious Spiller, Sean “Bad” Apple, and Terry “Big” T Williams live in person. There’s something special about the way Lucious sings “A Change is Gonna Come”. He digs deep as he sings it with raw emotion. With accompaniment from a harp player called Freight Train, Sean Apple’s cover of Skip Jame’s “Hard Times” was really nice. Lady Trucker made a guest appearance during Sean’s set to sit in on “Sitting on Top of the World”. Her voice has a lot of power in it and is quite impressive. Following the Grits & Greens dinner, we headed over to Ground Zero Blues Club, and caught Heather Crosse, “Rockin” Johnny Burgin, and Jaxx Nassar hosting the weekly blues jam. That was a big ball of fun to be present for that. The camaraderie among the musicians exudes a sense of family.

Before the festivities began on Friday, we ventured out to visit a few blues sites. We stopped by Tutwiler first to see where W.C. Handy heard his first slide guitar performance, then visited Sonny Boy Williamson II’s gravesite. We had lunch at The Cozy Corner in Indianola, a place which sits a couple of blocks away from the new B.B. King Museum. Their ribs really hit the spot, and the fried okra was cooked perfectly. This was definitely a one-of-a-kind place to stop. Just around the corner from the Cozy Corner, sits Club Ebony, a nightclub which has earned its own Mississippi Blues Trail marker for showcasing such artists as Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Albert King, Little Milton, Count Basie, and many others. We pushed off from there and visited Dockery Farms, and a possible locations of the famed crossroads nearby, which legend tells us Robert Johnson made his deal with Ol’ Scratch.

The first band to play on Friday was the Delta Museum Student Band. It is through this program that many blues artists in the area, such as Christone “Kingfish” Ingram got their start. Heavy Suga and the Sweet Tones with Heather Crosse and Johnny Burgin took the stage next. They sound absolutely fabulous together. I was so happy to hear a couple of my favorites from Heather’s Groovin’ at the Crosse Roads album: “My Man Called Me” and “Why Does a Woman Play a Bass Guitar”. Lightnin’ Malcolm was an absolute force to be reckoned with. His guitar performance was sizzling. James “Super Chikan” Johnson followed with his flashy home-made guitars. I couldn't help but smile when he hit the stage . His band comprised of his daughter Jamiesa Turner on drums, Heather Falduto on bass, and Lala Craig are impeccable.

Early Saturday afternoon, I made it my number one priority to go listen to the legendary Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. This recent Grammy nominee and owner of the oldest still-active juke joint in Mississippi The Blue Front Cafe, is the current king of the Bentonia Blues. It was truly an amazing experience to hear him play “Catfish Blues” and “Roll Me”. The rest of the afternoon was spent back at Ground Zero for more blues from Steve Kolbus, Lucious Spiller, Jaxx Nassar, Big Train and the Loco Motives, Heavy Suga and the Sweet Tones, and Johnny Burgin.

With a setlist which included Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”, “Sweet Home Chicago”, Susan Tedeschi’s “Hurts So Bad”, and Cindy Lauper’s “Time After Time”, and “Whipping Post” it was a great pleasure to hear Jaxx Nassar. She is a multi-instrumentalist who has an amazing voice, and killer chops on the guitar. She even brought out her cigar box guitar made by my friend Kevin Patrick, and gave us a solid dose of “Catfish Blues”. I can’t wait to hear her first album, whenever it may come out. I’ll definitely be among the first to buy a copy.

Jim “Big Train” Madsen, another friend of mine from the group I was with, took the stage with his band Big Train and the Loco Motives. With Madsen on guitar and lead vocals, the rest of the band was comprised of Bill “Top Dog” Cummins on harp, Mason “Thumper” Cullen on bass, and Mike “Pine Box” Lander on percussion. They delivered an outstanding set of delta blues, covering greats such as “Got My Mojo Working”, “Built for Comfort”, “Bang Bang Bang Bang”, “Before You Accuse Me”, and “Hoochie Coochie Man”. They also performed a new original blues tune written by Madsen called “I Ain’t Skinny No More”. That one definitely needs to be released as a single sometime soon.

Heather Crosse and Johnny Burgin had sounded so good together the previous two times I caught them, I had to hang around and hear them once more. It was cool to hear Burgin break out his cover L.V. Bank’s “Teddy Bear”.

Several acts were delayed due to rain Saturday evening, but once it cleared, I was front-and-center for Jimbo Mathus with special guest Charlie Musselwhite. That was the main event as far as I was concerned, and no way was I going to miss this show. It was still sprinkling a little bit, but I managed to get the camera out for a few shots. Jimbo started out with “Shake Your Money Maker”, and a most fitting “Ain’t Gonna Rain No More”. He played Canned Heat’s “On the Road Again”, and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”. Musselwhite took the stage and stayed until the end. Together they performed several songs including “Louisiana Blues”, and “Ode to Billy Joe”.

I had a such a fun time, trying to cram as much live music into my vacation as I possibly could. Sunday morning, we checked out of the Shack Up Inn and began the eleven-hour trek back to Iowa along Highway 61. Now, it’s just a treasured memory.

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*All photos by Phillip Smith except the one credited otherwise