Where's the Delta? 2005

Where's the Delta?
Originally published 9/30/2005

Many people have asked me if my old stomping grounds in the Mississippi Delta were destroyed by Katrina, if I feel lucky to have moved out of that area before this disaster, whether they can still visit the Delta, etc. To clarify, a little geography: the famed Mississippi Delta, where Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House, Muddy Waters and many others practiced their craft, is not where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The Delta is several hundred miles upstream, in the northwest part of the state of Mississippi (and the northeast part of Arkansas). Biloxi and the other cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast were socked by Katrina's fury and flooding. The Gulf Coast is the land of shipbuilding, shrimping, resort beaches and, in recent years, casinos. It is far from the Delta and it does not have a major blues heritage. The Delta had some rough weather and power outages, but no flooding or major destruction. Also many hospitable Delta people are helping house evacuees from the flooded areas now.
So if you're thinking of visiting the Delta, now is as good a time as any. In fact, hurry up and pack and you might make it down for the 20th annual King Biscuit Blues Festival -- oops, "Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival," as it was just renamed in a legal dispute over the name. Whatever you call it, this festival has a fabulous lineup, historic setting (on the streets of Helena, Ark.), great barbecue and just fun vibe that no other blues festival can match. I am very honored to be performing there this year, reunited with my sometime musical partner The Mississippi Spoonman, at noon Oct. 7 on the Houston Stackhouse Acoustic Stage. If you're down there, come on by and say hello! Spoonman and I also play at 7:30 p.m. Oct 7 at the Wild Hog Saloon, 325 Cherry St, Helena; and at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at the annual Pinetop Perkins Homecoming at Hopson Plantation, Clarksdale, Miss.