There’s nothing that touches the soul quite like the tune of an old fashioned blues song. Whether you’ve got something heavy on your mind, or you just happen to catch a listen at the right moment, a good blues song can connect your body and soul to the music, and put you right inside the mind of the musicians.
Illustration: Jake Thrasher
This weekend at the Oxford Blues Festival, blues fans will have the rare opportunity not only to hear the music of the heartbroken, but also to interact with musicians and advocates for the blues community at a panel at the Overby Center moderated by Ole Miss graduate student DeWayne Moore.
The panel will include notable blues musicians R. L. Boyce of Como, Mississippi and Bobby Ray Watson, who will be returning to Mississippi from California for the first time in over a decade. Moore said he is excited to see what kind of stories the musicians will share, especially Bobby Ray Watson, whom Moore has interviewed for his dissertation.
“It took me a long time to track him down,” Moore said. “And it took him a long time to talk to me and it took him a long time to agree to come down here. But I’m excited to hear more about him.”
It’s Moore’s hope that the Blues panel will not only allow attendees to learn more about Blues Music and Mississippi, but also share in the stories of these musicians’ lives.
“I try to bring something interesting and new – it’s hard to distinguish yourself from all the other blues and music festivals around,” he said. “I’m hoping the different groups on panels have a chance to talk to each other.”
Besides music men, the panel will also include members of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues Headstone Project and Skip Henderson, the founder of cemetery restoration society known as the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund. These organizations have completed charitable work in Mississippi over the years, restoring and erecting gravestones and memorials to the unmarked or neglected grave sites of some of Mississippi’s deceased blues singers.
Steve Salter, president of the Killer Blues Headstone Project, said he is excited to be a part of the Blues panel this year, and looks forward to sharing his passion for the project at the festival. The project formed in 1997, when Salter went to pay homage to some of his blues heroes down in New Orleans only to discover many of them lay in unmarked or dilapidated graves. Since then, he and his organization have made it their mission to ensure the voices of blues music’s past have their name on their final resting place.
“I put headstones on artists’ graves as a sign of gratitude and respect,” Salter said. “I am grateful for the music that they produced and I want their life and contributions to be remembered. Many or most of these artists lay in unmarked graves because they were poor and their families had no money to purchase a headstone for them. Those family members have been overwhelmed with gratitude for what we do. It is very humbling and satisfying to be able to offer this to them.”
Henderson of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, however, said his work isn’t about blues music or fallen singers, but about reclaiming and securing land in Mississippi that is otherwise at risk of foreclosure or being swallowed up by the agricultural industry.
“The work I do, it isn’t about the blues. The music is the soundtrack,” Henderson said. “It’s all about saving the soul of Mississippi.”
The work of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund focuses exclusively on the state, and uses whatever means possible to save a cemetery, according to Henderson.
“Mississippi is the most spiritual place I’ve ever been,” Henderson said. “I welcome any chance to go up to Mississippi. I’m excited for this weekend.”
Through the panel, it is Moore’s hope that the Killer Blues Headstone Project and Mt. Zion Memorial Fund will be able to learn from each other and find ways to foster and share successes, so that they will continue to bring recognition to the resting souls of Mississippi’s blues forefathers.
