Legends May/June 2013 by Shawn King

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

WWW.NATCHEZFESTIVALOFMUSIC.COM

Cole Porter’s

Kiss Me Kate

F  Mc

18 May 7 p.m. Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center Giuseppe Verdi’s

Rigoletto

25 May 7 p.m. Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center Come for the music, stay for the experience! The month of May finds music in the air in historic Natchez. From musicals like Kiss Me Kate to Verdi’s Rigoletto and everything in between! Don’t miss this Natchez Festival of Music for great performances in our picturesque getaway.

WWW.FESTIVALSOUTH.ORG

FestivalS uth 8 - 22 JUNE 2013

Join the city-wide celebration during FestivalSouth’s® exciting fourth season! Mississippi’s only multi-week, multi-genre arts festival offers both free and ticketed events to local residents and cultural tourists. From Broadway to the blues and visual to culinary art, Hattiesburg is the place to be!

WWW.USM.EDU/MUSIC THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and

94th Season The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will open its next season on October 3, 2013, with internationally known flutist and conductor, Ransom Wilson. Maestro Wilson has long been recognized internationally as one of the greatest flutists of his generation. As flute soloist, he has appeared in concert with some of the greatest orchestras and artists of our time. In addition to the opening concert with Maestro Wilson the rest of the season features the Symphony No. 2 by Rachmaninoff, Taiwanese guest conductor Apo Hsu, and choral masterworks sung by the Hattiesburg Choral Union.

AA/EOE/ADAI

toMONET

OLD MASTERS three centuries of french painting from the wadsworth atheneum

The Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series

through September 8, 2013

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), The Duchesse de Polignac Wearing a Straw Hat, 1782. oil on canvas. 36 x 25 in. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, acquired in honor of Kate M. Sellers, Eighth Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, 2000–2003, 2002.13.1.

MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM of ART

WWW.MSMUSEUMART.ORG 601.960.1515 1.866.VIEWART 380 SOUTH LAMAR STREET JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 Old Masters to Monet is organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, and is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Local presentation of this exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation. The Mississippi Museum of Art and its programs are sponsored in part by the city of Jackson, the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau, and The Clarion-Ledger Media Group. Support is also provided in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Any museum can display a few works, but it takes a truly special place to showcase the quirks. Visit the showcase at Greenville - Washington County: Greenville History Museum 409 Washington Avenue, Greenville Old #1 Firehouse Museum 230 Main Street, Greenville William Alexander Percy Memorial Library & Delta Writer’s Exhibit 341 Main Street, Greenville “Century of History” Hebrew Union Temple & Museum 504 Main Street, Greenville 1927 Flood Museum 118 South Hinds Street, Greenville The Patriot at Greenville Cemetery South Main Street, Greenville E.E. Bass Cultural Arts Center / Armitage-Herschell Carousel 323 South Main Street, Greenville Highway 61 Blues Museum 307 North Broad Street, Leland Jim Henson Delta Boyhood Exhibit 206 Broad Street North, Leland Winterville Mounds 2415 Highway 1 North, Winterville Greenville Air Force Base Museum Mid Delta Regional Airport, Greenville

Greenville - Washington County. More than meets the eye.

www.visitgreenville.org 1-800-467-3582

MAY. JUNE 2013

Convention & Visitors Bureau

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

CONTENTS MAY / JUNE 2013

MUSIC PUBLISHER AND PRESIDENT ��Marianne Todd CO-PUBLISHER AND DIRECTOR OF MARKETING ��Ken Flynt CREATIVE DIRECTOR / DESIGNER �� Shawn T. King WEB GURU / DRAGON SLAYER ��Chris Banks

David Battaglia - 601-421-8654 David@MississippiLegends.com Editorial - 601-604-2963 Editor@MississippiLegends.com Contributing writers: Stephen Corbett, Barry Mazor, Shirley B. Waring, Joe Lee, Sally Durkin, Kara Martinez Bachman Contributing photographers: Chad Edwards, Chuck Cook, James Edward Bates, Sally Durkin Web calendar tech: James Sharp (www.MississippiLegends.com) Email calendar submissions to James@MississippiLegends.com Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or reprinted without express permission of the publisher. The opinions and views expressed by our contributors, writers and editors are their own. Various views from other professionals may also be expressed. Neither LEGENDS nor Blue South Publishing Corporation is endorsing or guaranteeing the products or quality of services expressed in advertisements. All advertisers assume liability for all content (including text representation and illustration) of advertisements printed and assume responsibility for any resulting claims against LEGENDS or its affiliates. Materials, photographs and written pieces to be considered for inclusion in LEGENDS may be sent to P.O. Box 3663, Meridian, MS 39303. Unsolicited materials will not be returned. LEGENDS is free within the State of Mississippi and is distributed through tourism offices, welcome centers, restaurants, theaters, casinos and institutions of higher learning. If your business, agency or industry would like to offer LEGENDS, please contact us at Editor@ MississippiLegends.com. LEGENDS is available outside the State of Mississippi at fine retailers everywhere. Please contact us for a list of where to find. For more information, write to Editor@MississippiLegends.com. More information, including a comprehensive, up-to-date calendar, may be found at www.MississippiLegends.com

On his own and bluesier than ever

Cover Story: Jimmie Rodgers

The Magnolia 100

Godspell

Willie Dixon

Paying tribute the King

ADVERTISING SALES Ruth Vinson - 601-616-4993 Ruth@MississippiLegends.com

Cary Hudson

How country music came to be his legacy

The unlikely birth of a choir 100 voices strong

A bit of love and tenderness in the Queen City

The poet laureate of the blues

Elvis Festival reigns in Tupelo

FEATURES 26

Dr. Aubrey Lucas

The Saloon Under the Hill

In the Spotlight

Choctaw Gardens

The champion for music leaves USM on a high note

The best little watering hole east of the Mississippi

Circa. URBAN ARTISAN LIVING

The photographic journey of Hilda Stuart

CULINARY 54 ABOUT OUR COVER This recently discovered photograph of Jimmie Rodgers was created by Buckingham Studio, Washington, D.C. Photograph provided by the Harry Ransom Center, Musicians Collection, the University of Texas at Austin.

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Mary Mahoney’s

Scrumptious seafood in the Old French House

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dear Readers, It’s another late-night deadline as we put yet another issue of Legends to bed. We’re exhausted, but smiling sweetly at the content Legends gives its readers in this edition. Maybe some of you have heard of Jimmie Rodgers. Maybe others are well acquainted with his music. Whichever the case, we’re sure you’ll love Barry Mazor’s Cover Story in which we learn how this simple man earned a country music legacy. In keeping with our tradition of cultural history, all things arts and all things Mississippi, we proudly bring you our May/June edition. Cheers,

Marianne

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sumrall

MUSIC FEATURE L

Cary Hudson with his longtime partner, Laurie Stirratt.

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� After 25 years Cary Hudson flies solo � BY STEPHEN CORBETT PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHAD EDWARDS

ary Hudson has been on the road for more than 25 years, spending most of that time in Blue Mountain, the seminal alternative country-rock band he formed with his former wife. It is a career that has been punctuated by highs and lows – the split of his marriage to longtime partner Laurie Stirratt, the achievement of making Gibson guitar’s “Top 10 AltCountry Guitarists” list in 2008. “If I had been on the list of Top 10 alternative guitarists or Top 10 country guitarists, I’d be a millionaire. But being in the Top 10 alternative country guitarists means that I am still doing my trade in small clubs,” Hudson laughs. “But it really was an honor. And I guess I’m a pretty good guitarist,

but I’m more of a songwriter. If I couldn’t sing or play, I’d still write songs.” Blue Mountain’s current tour, however, is officially its last. Following a June 29th date at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic in Waterford, the band is officially pulling the plug. “We had a great run. Nobody’s mad at anybody else. I’m just ready to go in a different direction,” says Hudson, who has made a name for himself with his Neil Young-inspired riffs and who has become synonymous with a Les Paul. “I’m going from Jimmy Page to John Hurt,” he says. “I’m going to be taking a bluesier avenue from now on; more acoustic. You never know what lies ahead, but aside from MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

occasionally in the studio, I think I’m done playing the electric guitar. I’ve been doing it almost non-stop since I was 13. I’m almost 50 now, and it’s out of my system.” The group had tried in recent years to incorporate some of the more acoustic-based bluesier sounds Hudson wishes to pursue, but those sounds simply did not fit in with the legacy Blue Mountain had created. “A lot of people want to see me with a Les Paul when they come to a Blue Mountain gig, and I owe that to them. It’s like going to see AC/DC. You don’t want to see any acoustic guitars. You want to see Angus Young

“

I’m going from Jimmy Page to John Hurt. I’m going to be taking a bluesier avenue from now on; more acoustic. - Cary Hudson

“

bopping around with his Gibson SG in a school boy’s uniform,” he says. Hudson, originally from Sumrall, has released a few albums over the years, including the critically acclaimed “The Phoenix,” but considers this the official beginning of his career as a solo artist. “Mississippi has a great tradition of guys who just went out there with an acoustic guitar and did it: Jimmie Rodgers, Bukka White, Son House – I could go on for days. I want to be a part of that tradition. It’s always nice to have an old guy sitting in a chair and playing an acoustic guitar.” In addition to the remaining dates for Blue Mountain, Hudson has been playing a number of solo acoustic gigs, including several dates at New Orleans’ Chickie Wah Wah. He isn’t planning a full-fledged tour until he releases a new record – and he doesn’t rule out the possibility of using a band for either the recording or the tour. “If I’m putting together a band, I see it as me, someone on upright bass and a fiddle player. If there is a percussionist, it will be light percussion – not a full drum kit,” he says. “String bands are another old Mississippi tradition – those pre-bluegrass bands like the

MAY. JUNE 2013

Mississippi Sheiks. The instrumentation is sometimes similar to bluegrass, but it isn’t bluegrass. It’s jazzier and bluesier. But if I put together another band, it definitely won’t be country-punk.” Hudson has about half of the songs written for his official solo debut and hopes to have a release next year. He says he plans to use musicians from Mississippi to his current New Orleans home, for the forthcoming album. “I’m really looking forward to this. I played a Mardi Gras festival in Columbia, South Carolina, earlier this year – ironic considering that I live in New Orleans,” he says. “There are all of these bands full of young kids with electric guitars. Me and Drink Small [an 80-yearold S.C. blues legend] were pretty much the only two dudes playing solo acoustic sets. So when people tell me that rock is dead, I think of shows like that. Rock isn’t dead, and I’m not abandoning rock. I’m just shifting gears.” Hudson says he plans to release his solo album both stateside and in Europe, where Blue Mountain has a dedicated following and where he will tour for the first time in four years. Even though he’s looking forward to launching a solo career, Hudson is certainly not phoning it in for the final Blue Mountain shows. “Director Thad Lee is doing a documentary of Blue Mountain, which covers the last five years of the band and will include the final two shows,” he says. “I’m gonna strap that electric guitar on and rock. I love what I do in Blue Mountain, and I love what we have created over the years.” Hudson is currently revamping his website, but in the meantime, he can be followed on both ReverbNation and Facebook. While he won’t embark on a tour until he releases an album, he will still do live performances. “As far as gigging goes - anything that comes up, I’m game for it,” he says. “The main thing for me right now is that I feel like doing what I’m doing. My head's in it. My heart’s in it. A lot of musicians reach a certain age and get tired. It gets to be too grinding. Some of us have to learn the hard way. I don’t see myself stopping.” L LAST CHANCE TO SEE BLUE MOUNTAIN: June 29th, North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. For more information, go to www.nmshillcountrypicnic.com.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

meridian

The simple soul who became The Father of Country Music BY BARRY MAZOR

t the moment of his untimely death at age 35 on May 26, 1933, exactly eighty years ago this month, Jimmie Rodgers left a broad, profound, musical and personal legacy that continues to resonate across America and beyond today.

He is an inducted member of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, of the

Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame, and, of course, was, along with Hank Williams, the very first artist inducted into Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame. The plaque there calls him “the man who started it all,” a reference to his revered status as “the Father of Country Music.” Jimmie Rodgers himself, however, had never even heard of “country music,” a term that didn’t come into wide use until years after his death. He hadn’t particularly thought of himself as a “hillbilly singer” for that matter, though that term was already around, or any other sort of niche singer either. His RCA Victor record label tended to promote him as one of the mainstream pop stars of the day, right along with Gene Austin, Fanny Brice and Fred Waring, with the important difference that Rodgers’ roots—down home and from the deep South—and the special relationship he maintained with audiences from the same background, were always acknowledged. If you’d asked one of his millions of fans from his own day to describe him, they’d most likely have called him that hotshot vaudevillian who sings a lot of blues and yodels.

You will not find a reference in print, or in quoted conversations, referring to Rodgers as “the Father of Country Music” before events that unfolded in his hometown of Meridian on May 26, 1953, 60 years ago this month, at the 20th anniversary of his death. Those events not only changed the way we understand who Jimmie Rodgers was and what

, the cowboy. Jimmie Rodgers

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he accomplished, and initiated the regular Jimmie Rodgers Day festivals that would

COVER STORY

“

In Jimmie Rodgers—like no other potential originator nominees, from the Carter Family to Vernon Dalhart— country music had a potential “father” who had always been sly enough, modern enough and adventurous enough, in the wide array of material and instrumental backing and song themes on his records, and in that wide array of images associated with him—working brakeman and carefree wanderer, family man and lady’s man, jazzy blues singer and cowboy, tragic tuberculosis victim and toughtalking outlaw, a man who could sing about his bucket of lard with his Mississippi accent intact and ride in a Cadillac demonstrating his success, and never, never forgetting the folks back home.

“

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

ABOVE: (L-R) Lottie Mixon (Jimmie Rodgers’ sister), Carrie Rodgers, Anita Rodgers (Jimmie and Carrie’s daughter) and Nate Williamson, 1953. • Justin Tubb & Hank Snow unveil the monument. RIGHT: (L-R) Jimmie Rodgers Snow & Elvis Presley, 1955 Festival. • Jim Evans, founder of Rodgers Fan Club and instigator of Rodgers recording reissues, at Meridian, 1953. • Jim Reeves and Del Wood, 1956 Festival.

become such a musical mainstay, they also marked, as the Mississippi Country

printer and Rodgers record collector Jim Evans had started a global Rodgers

Music Trail marker at Meridian’s Dumont Plaza notes, country music’s own

fan club and pressed successfully to have Rodgers’ hit records reissued, with an

coming of age.

assist from passionate Jimmie Rodgers fans Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow and Ralph

One straightforward reason there was no generally accepted “father” of

Peer, whose publishing firm continued to market Rodgers’ songs. Tubb, Snow,

country music before 1953 is that, before then, few people had stopped to ask

Lefty Frizzell and Bill Monroe, as varied as they were as recording artists, had all

who that might be—or cared. Music that, in parallel to the just established

recorded new sets of Rodgers songs in the first few years of the 1950s.

blues genre made by and for African-American audiences, especially appealed

Carrie Rodgers, Rodgers’ widow, had been an important encourager and

to and was made by down home Southern white people (rural perhaps, but

advocate for both Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow in early stages of their careers,

more often those with rural roots who’d relocated to town), had only begun

and they were determined to repay the kindness. “E.T.,” as fans and friends

to be explored by record companies in the early 1920s. It had emerged as a

referred to Tubb, had republished Carrie Rodgers’ memoir of her husband, and

potentially lasting field with the “Big Bang of Country Music,” the sessions in

suggested to Snow that the two of them split the cost of an elaborate memorial

which producer-manager Ralph Peer first recorded both Jimmie Rodgers and

marker for Rodgers in Meridian, and to unveil it while putting on, as Snow

the Carter Family in 1927, and had only really taken off as a massive national

would recall, “a big celebration with a huge country music show.” It would

and even international success after World War II. Record companies, publishers

ramp up attention for Jimmie Rodgers and his music, which would have the

and broadcasters, songwriters, singers and pickers had been too busy trying to

additional benefit of sending more song royalties in Carrie Rodgers’ direction.

figure out how to make the whole enterprise work, and what it might include to

He used some fateful words in explaining the idea to Snow: “We need to do

be successful, to stop to consider country’s own history.

this for Mrs. Rodgers, as well as to the memory of Jimmie Rodgers; he was the

Jimmie Rodgers had left behind dedicated, impassioned advocates for his

daddy of country music.” The marker would prove to be the thumbs up Jimmie

music, and at this moment when there was a general revival of interest in stories

Rodgers memorial marker on display in Meridian to this day, near the Jimmie

and music from the “Roaring 20s,” Rodgers advocates sparked the beginning of

Rodgers museum, moved there from its original location at what was called

a revival of interest in his records, and in taking on his songs again, too. Texas

“roadside park.”

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Jimmie Rodgers, 1927.

By coincidence, the daily Meridian Star, in cooperation with the Brotherhood

of Railroad Trainmen, had already been planning to retire a steam locomotive to honor the many Meridian area railroad men who’d given their lives on the job; that was a natural fit with a celebration of “The Singing Brakeman,” and the two events became one, officially known as “Jimmie Rodgers and Railroad Men Memorial Day,” and less formally referred to as “National Hillbilly Music Day,” a term Tubb and not a few others found offensive, so it would settle in as the “Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival” and “National Country Music Day” the following year. The very act of planning the first celebration would come to redefine Jimmie Rodgers’ relation to country music and his importance in its history. The planning involved the Star and the railroad men’s association, local dignitaries such as attorney Nate Williamson (brother of both Carrie Rodgers’ and Rodgers’ songwriting collaborator Elsie McWilliams), and then quickly, an array of stars, movers and shakers from Nashville’s country music industry. It was precisely at this time that organized country music was discovering increased respectability in emphasizing its connection to a deep, folkloric past, which appealed to urban sophisticates involved with buying radio and television advertising, for instance, and in proving that its audience was neither backward nor impoverished, but modernizing consumers with money to spare to buy advertisers’ products.

In Jimmie Rodgers—like no other potential originator nominees, from the MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

Carter Family to Vernon Dalhart-- country music had a potential “father” who had always been sly enough, modern enough and adventurous enough, in the wide array of material and instrumental backing and song themes on his records, and in that wide array of images associated with him—working brakeman and carefree wanderer, family man and lady’s man, jazzy blues singer and cowboy, tragic tuberculosis victim and tough-talking outlaw, a man who could sing about his bucket of lard with his Mississippi accent intact and ride in a Cadillac demonstrating his success, and never, never forgetting the folks back home.

On that first Jimmie Rodgers Day, politicians, executives, and some 30,000

attendees gathered in Meridian as performers from all of the far-flung versions of what country music had become flew in to join in the celebration. From the cowboy-suited Western Swing end, there was Hank Thompson, Tommy Duncan of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, from the hardcore, loud and frank honky tonk that had left Texas to become the dominant style of country, came Lefty Frizzell, Webb Pierce and Little Jimmie Dickens. From older, traditional country of the southeast came the Original Carter Family, in their last, late public appearance together, bluegrass founder Bill Monroe and his brother Charlie in a rare reunion, Roy Acuff and Jimmie Davis. The new, smooth pop country modernizers were there as well—Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins and George Morgan. In the editions of the festival of the next few years to come, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash would This long standing event known as “the stage of legends” has been popular since 1953 when music lovers began to gravitate to Meridian for the three-day festival honoring Rodgers, the Father of Country Music. This year’s lineup includes such greats as Vince Gill and Rodney Atkins, along with a number of noted Mississippi musicians.

— MAY 16 — KICKOFF BLOCK PARTY

Features the All Night Long Blues Band, Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes and Jimmie Rodgers as performed by Britt Gully. Dumont Plaza, Meridian, 6 p.m. $5 general admission, no pets allowed.

— MAY 17 — MUSIC

arrive, underscoring Jimmie Rodgers’ refection in rockabilly. Hank Snow’s son, Jimmie Rodgers Snow, virtually introduced as a performer on that first Rodgers Day would note, “The celebration at Meridian gave Jimmie so much notoriety; the fact that everybody who was in the business came there… that when that took off, with crowds that were humongous—these were the things that turned Jimmie’s recognition around.” As diverse and encompassing as the artists that converged on Meridian were, every one of them and every style in which they performed owed much to what “America’s Blue Yodeler” out of Mississippi had built. What Jimmie Rodgers had been about, country music was now about.

Features The Time Jumpers with Vince Gill, Dawn Sears, Kenny Sears and Ranger Doug Green

MSU Riley Center, Meridian, 7:30 p.m. $69, $63. For more information, call (601) 696-2200.

with a caption that predicted, matter-of-factly, “The annual occasion …will be

JUKE JOINT NIGHT

Downtown Meridian jukes and clubs offer live music, 9 p.m.

— MAY 18 — ARTS & CRAFTS

Singling Brakeman Park, Meridian, 8 a.m.

TALENT COMPETITION

Singing Brakeman Park, Meridian, 9 a.m., $5 general admission

As the hoopla for the second festival heated up in the spring of 1954, Cash

Box magazine featured Carrie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow on its cover, held May 25th-26th and is expected to attract some 50,000 persons who will pay tribute to the Father of Country Music.” This was, it appears, the first time that description of the man appeared in print in those words. It had taken a confident, successful commercial country music field with a deeper understanding of its audience and the range of it’s own possibilities to make this connection—a wiser child to know its own father. And so Jimmie Rodgers was rightly deemed the “Father of Country Music” a generation after his passing.

CRUISIN’ WITH JIMMIE

Classic car dive-in, Singing Brakeman Park, Meridian, 2 p.m., followed by parade at 4 p.m.

JIMMIE’S JAM

Featuring Rodney Atkins, Trademark, Blue Mother Tupelo and Betsy Badwater. Singing Brakeman Park, 5p.m. $12.50 advance tickets or $18 day of show. Children under 12 admitted free, no pets. For more information, visit www.jimmierodgers.com

MAY. JUNE 2013

Music journalist Barry Mazor is the author of the book “Meeting Jimmie Rodgers,” on the Rodgers legacy, and is the chief researcher and writer for the Mississippi Country Music Trail.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

MAY. JUNE 2013

Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Blues Brothers® Revue 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill, Dawn Sears, Kenny Sears and Ranger Doug Green 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Keb’ Mo’ 7:30 p.m. Pre-Show Party 6:00 p.m.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds 7:30 p.m. Pre-Show Party 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Don McLean 7:30 p.m. Pre-Show Party 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

“The Heart Behind the Music” featuring Kim Carnes, John Ford Coley, Gene Cotton, Lenny LeBlanc, with special guest Greg Barnhill 7:30 p.m.

Friday, August 2, 2013

The Hit Men 7:30 p.m.

Join us for Pre-Show Parties in the Grand Lobby before select shows. 2200 5th Street • Meridian, Mississippi 601-696-2200 • www.msurileycenter.com MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

meridian

MAGN THE

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MUSIC FEATURE

NOLIA 100 STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIANNE TODD

It had been a long time coming. Principal Angela McQuarley had led a diligent search to find a good choir teacher for her students at Meridian’s Magnolia Middle School. It seemed at times to be a revolving door job as one choir teacher after another began work, then left. Her last search for a choir teacher ended in frustration with her favorite candidate being ruled out due to a policy glitch. Substitute teachers lacked the experience to lead an energetic group of young teens; the students did mainly homework in chorus class. That is, until Torey Parker arrived. Parker, a 26-year-old substitute teacher with a strong science background, had felt the void in the school’s choir program tugging at his heart. With a Master’s of Science in secondary education, Parker had also spent his years at Alcorn State University immersed in music, directing a gospel choir and singing in the school’s concert choir. “It’s something I’ve done all my life, have an innate ability to do and enjoy,” he says. So when he and McQuarley talked about filling the position, he was quickly handed the keys to the classroom. He applied for and received an endorsement in music, then began a full time position as the school’s new permanent choir teacher. That was in early January. Less than two months later, the choir had grown from zero to 100, had church gigs booked nearly every Sunday and were rehearsing to perform in two upcoming professional musical productions. “The children wanted to sing, but they were so used to busywork, so used to not singing, so not used to doing anything,” Parker says. “So the first thing I did was to develop our relationship, to let them know I love them and I will work with them.” Torey Parker became Magnolia Middle School’s choir director in January to a group of students who hadn’t had a permanent director in years. After a few intense months of work, their moving and powerful performances have them booked nearly every weekend. MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

At first, the sixth, seventh and eighth graders were a bit uncertain of their new teacher. “Their goal was to see how far they could take Mr. Parker,” he says. “That’s what children do. But the test they gave me was to see if I was really there for them, if I really cared for them. So then I started developing a relationship with their parents, and now that has spread to the community.” The next task was dividing the sopranos from the altos and the altos from the tenors. Then there was the problem of pitch. Once the voices were tuned, he began dividing the choir’s direction, harmonizing pieces, creating differing pieces within one song and bringing them back together again. These days, his 6-foot, 4-inch frame serves as a familiar focal point for the students. Parker isn’t hesitant to throw his emotions into his directing, swooping, reaching, pointing, singing along – anything – to steer the choir’s course. “We were off pitch but he put us in the right groups. No more mistakes,” says Jamia Harris, 12. “I feel nervous sometimes when we perform, but I know we will do our best, and he will have us on point.” Behavioral problems are a challenge – as with nearly all young teenagers – but Parker is working on them one day at a time. “We work with a lot of disadvantaged students,” he says. “And certification alone does not qualify one to work at Magnolia. It takes someone who is not only going to teach these students, it takes someone who is going to care for them, someone who is compassionate about their feelings, someone who can relate to them.” At the end of her eighth grade year, 14-year-old Kyra Capers is saddened

MAY. JUNE 2013

to be leaving her school soon. “I love Mr. Parker. I love being in the choir,” she says. “It feels like a family. We’ve bounced from substitute teacher to substitute teacher. It feels so good to have a permanent teacher who gets us and who loves us. Mr. Parker brought out the potential Kyra Capers in all of us.” The choir performs mainly gospels, but Parker says he’s getting ready to take it to a new level with show tunes like “Shenandoah.” “They are songs my students relate to and the community relates to,” he says. “We want to offer a broad diversity, although I think our knack is spiritual.” John Cole, a deacon at El-Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, where the choir performed in February, says he was enamored with the group of students. “Those guys were just fantastic. They were just not saying words. It was an expression of feeling. It was impossible to sit and listen and not be touched,” Cole says. “My soul was just glorified. That was an experience that was so notable. I don’t know who inspired them to this magnitude, but those young people can reach a lot of people’s lives. What a true testimony.” The spiritual aspect, Capers says, is uplifting in a trying environment. “I feel like God is in our presence when we’re singing. This choir gives us discipline. It gives us hope.” McQuarley says Parker’s intense program has resulted in better behavior

“Those guys were just fantastic. They were just not saying words. It was an expression of feeling. It was impossible to sit and listen and not be touched. My soul was just glorified ... I don’t know who inspired them to this magnitude, but those young people can reach a lot of people’s lives. What a true testimony.” and better grades. “You can see it in their demeanor. They’re calmer. It’s like their minds have matured in a way that keeps them focused in school. Their grades have improved. They’ve changed both academically and behaviorally.” “We’re not famous yet, but we’re getting there,” said Zariah Hudson, 11. “Mr. Parker shows us the way to go, what’s right in life. He gives us inspiration.” Tellis Hopson, an 8th grade aspiring rapper, says Parker’s energy is contagious. “When we sing, we feel it.” At the time of this writing, the choir was to perform with the Atlantabased production of Sojourner. They were working also on a written part in the May 24 production of Godspell, scheduled at Meridian’s Temple Theater. With a fresh incoming crop of sixth graders in the fall, Parker says he wants to work toward acquiring uniforms and broadening the scope of the choir’s performance. His turnout ratio is good, with about 80 percent

of the choir consistently showing up for performances with parents and grandparents in tow. “I want to keep the momentum going. I want to be able to take them to choir competitions around the U.S.,” he says. “I see that they’re growing every day. They’re maturing. Their voices are maturing. I see us doing big venues. I see us on Oprah. “This gives them an opportunity to stay out of trouble. It gives them something to look forward to. The biggest thing I can give my kids is love. They can tell if you’re for real, so you have to be here for the long run.” L WANT TO SEE THEM? The Magnolia 100 Choir is scheduled to perform with the University of Mobile’s production of Godspell on May 24 at 7 p.m. at Meridian’s Temple Theater for the Performing Arts.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

meridian

Message of kindness, love, coming to Meridian

ased on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, “Godspell” is a musical featuring the hit song “Day by Day,” which reached No. 13 on Billboard’s pop singles chart in the summer of 1972. On May 24, the musical with colorful backdrops and lively performers will light up the stage at Meridian’s Temple Theater for the Performing Arts. Reflecting on the life of Jesus, the musical performance created by Stephen Schwartz, brings with it a message of kindness, tolerance and love. Performed by the University of Mobile Performing Arts and directed by Bruce Earnest, associate dean of the School of Worship Leadership and the School of Music, “Godspell” will feature the vocal talent of Steven Dawson (Jesus), a senior musical theater major from Mobile and Collin Clardy (John the Baptist and Judas), a freshman worship leadership major from Thomasville, Ala. The role of Joanne will be played by Addie Garner, a junior musical theater major from Opelika, Ala. Roger Smith, Temple Theater executive director, said the performance is being brought to Meridian through a collaboration between the Temple Theater and the University of Mobile that was fostered by Jay

MAY. JUNE 2013

Dean at the the University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Music. “It’s a new frontier and a new working partnership between us,” Smith said. “Anything from the University of Mobile is going to be first class, and anything connected with the University of Southern Mississippi -- since it’s the artistic college of the state -- will always be of the highest caliber.” Other hit gospel songs included in the peformance are “Prepare Ye the Day of the Lord” and “By My Side.” L WANT TO GO? Tickets are $22 for general admission and $10 for students and can be purchased at the Temple box office, (601) 693-5353 (www.meridiantempletheater.com), or by calling (251) 442-2420, or by email at mbennett@umobile.edu. The performance is slated for 7 p.m.

BrIngInâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; It BacK hoMe! 33rd B.B. King homecoming Festival

July 3, 2013 B.B. King Museum Indianola, MS

Gates open at Noon / Performances from 1:00 to 9 p.m. / Tickets on sale May 1st / bbkingmuseum.org MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

hattiesburg

FEATURE L

 Dr. Aubrey Lucas

MAY. JUNE 2013

BY JOE LEE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHUCK COOK

Lucas legacy leaves USM on a high note

“He is one of those people who prefers to stay in the background. I had a dean once who told me that if I did my job right, no one would know who

His bow tie is a fitting trademark.

I am. And that’s the kind of leadership he’s shown

over the years. He prefers to participate quietly. But

Long since retired from the University of Southern Mississippi, the

Hattiesburg campus has kept calling Dr. Aubrey Lucas home to serve

his participation has been profound. He hasn’t been the

as university president, a position he held for a combined 24 years.

permanent president at USM since 1997, but his presence is felt

His true legacy, however, might be his imprint on the USM School

here every day and has never gone away.”

of Music and the Hattiesburg area. It is there that his impact on the

“If you love music,” Lucas said, “you can’t remember when you didn’t

university is incalculable.

love it.”

“In terms of what he has done for music—and all the arts—he has

Originally from the Mississippi town of State Line, Lucas grew up

been music’s biggest champion on this campus and in this community,”

playing the piano. He was mentored by his high school music teacher,

said Jay Dean, director of Orchestral Activities at USM. “The bringing

who helped him gain an appreciation for music by teaching him

of major artists to this university has been something he’s personally

church hymns to Bach.

responsible for. Specifically, the USM Symphony Orchestra wouldn’t

“Classical music is still my love,” he said. Growing up, Lucas

have been able to attract the type of artists of the past 25 years were it

remembers a man who “had the best phonograph in town and a large

not for Dr. Lucas’ involvement.

record collection. My brother and I would go to his home and listen

Dean met Lucas a quarter century ago when Dean arrived on the

to classical music.”

Hattiesburg campus as a faculty member.

When he came to USM as a student, he took voice and piano MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

lessons. Back then, there was no air conditioning at Forrest County Hall, so

student recitals, and the university choir and orchestra put on The Messiah

he was able to enjoy the sound of distant organ music drifting through his

each year.”

open dorm window on warm nights.

He graduated from USM in 1955 with a degree in education and earned

Lucas met his wife, Ella, on campus.

his Master’s the following year.

“Ella had an interest in music and sang in the USM choir,” Lucas said.

After earning his Doctorate in Higher Education Administration

“Her mother was a piano teacher. We both liked the same kind of music.

from Florida State University, Lucas returned again to USM (this time

We joined the Hattiesburg Concert Association, which brought three

as Registrar) and continued to teach. He eventually became Dean of the

or four great performers a year to Bennett Auditorium. We would go to

Graduate School. In 1971 he was appointed president of Delta State

everything on and off campus that we could get to. There were faculty and

University, a position he held for four years.

MAY. JUNE 2013

“He prefers to participate quietly. But his participation has been profound. He hasn’t been the permanent president at USM since 1997, but his presence is felt here every day and has never gone away.”- Dr. Jay Dean In 1975, USM called again. Lucas and his family returned to Hattiesburg

Not surprisingly, the Perlman performance opened the door for concerts

and to a matured musical landscape at the university. This time the stay was

by other major stars. French-born cellist Yo Yo Ma, who was awarded the

for good—he served as university president until the first day of 1997.

Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011, played

“There were more students and faculty, more string quartets,” Lucas said.

at USM a couple of years after Perlman.

“When Jay Dean came, he began recruiting superb students from Central

“Yo Yo Ma asked if he could play with our orchestra,” Lucas said.

and South America and built our university orchestra, which had been a

“Perlman came back and played a second time. James Galway has played

combination of students, faculty and townspeople.”

twice. Placido Domingo played on the Gulf Coast in 2005 and just kept

Dr. Stanley Hauer, the former Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at USM

complimenting our orchestra. We went to Jackson (in 2010) and played

and a retired professor of English, met Lucas during his second day on the

with (noted American soprano) Renee Fleming at Thalia Mara Hall (during

job.

the USM Centennial opening event).”

“When I was on committees with him, Dr. Lucas and I would fight like

“I’ve known Dr. Lucas since we were undergraduates at USM, and I’ve

pound dogs,” Hauer said. “Then we’d have a group hug and all would be

known him well since 1979. Our paths have crossed many times,” said

forgiven. He is the kindest, most giving and most beloved person I’ve ever

Charles Thomas, who is retired from Sunbeam Oster and remains active in

known, truly a second parent to me. He was the strongest supporter of

the Hattiesburg music community. “To this very day, if there’s something

music that one could imagine. He was at every concert, no matter how bad

going in in the arts, theater, or symphony community, he’s there. If I’m

or how small. He opened his home to countless—I mean that literally—

doing a fundraiser, he’s always in. He’s very loyal and will support whatever

receptions for musical events.

he believes in.

“I remember when we were about to celebrate the 75th anniversary of

“We’ve had other presidents who were never there to support and

the symphony, Dr. Dean and I were in a meeting with Dr. Lucas, and Dr.

promote arts and music at USM, but Aubrey is always there—it’s a priority

Lucas said, ‘Let’s get the greatest musician in the world to help us celebrate

for him. And it’s so good to see him in the audience. He did that as a young

this.’ I was floored—Dr. Dean was delighted. It didn’t take the two of them

man, and he does it now. He truly loves music and this university.”

long to settle on Itzhak Perlman. The rest is history. We were, if my memory

Lucas was asked to serve as USM interim president in 2001-2002 and

serves, the first university orchestra that Mr. Perlman agreed to play for.

again in 2012-2013 (his most recent tenure ended March 31). He also served

The concert was dedicated to Dr. Lucas, with a special piece composed by

as Interim Commissioner of Higher Education for the state of Mississippi in

Professor Zaninelli called ‘Jubilate.’”

2008-2009.

Landing Perlman, the legendary Israeli violinist and conductor who was

“This was during the search which led to Hank Bounds being named

presented the Medal of Liberty by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and the

Commissioner,” Lucas said. “It was an exciting time. We searched for a

National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton in 2000, was no easy feat.

commissioner, we searched for a chancellor at Ole Miss, and for a president

When Perlman’s agent initially turned down the request to play at USM,

at MSU.”

Dean sent a recording of the university orchestra for Perlman to consider.

On Feb. 9, an EF-4 tornado roared through Hattiesburg, hitting the

The agent got back in touch and agreed on a date.

firehouse that housed the university jazz band. It also plowed through

“It lifted our orchestra to another level, as they say in athletics,” Lucas

Ogletree House, the former President’s home and caused an estimated

said. “It was one of those times you know you’ve heard the best. And

several million dollars in damage.

Perlman said to me, ‘Mr. President, this is the best university orchestra with

“I was in Nashville at the time and saw the news reports on television,”

which I’ve ever played.’ This gave us a lot of self-confidence.”

Lucas said. “I talked to Ella, and she said, ‘Yes, it’s a tornado. It sounded like

UPPER LEFT: Dr. Aubrey Lucas with his wife Ella, at a performance on the USM campus. • UPPER RIGHT: Dr. Jay Dean is applauded by his orchestra. BOTTOM: The USM Symphony Orchestra performs Mahler Symphony No. 5. MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

MAY. JUNE 2013

a freight train.’” The damage forced faculty, students and staff from the main art design and music buildings to relocate elsewhere. “We moved the jazz band and percussion unit to the old campus post office. What this catastrophe did was disperse music across the campus. The day after the tornado I heard a trumpet—an absolutely wonderful sound— and walked out the front of my office and saw a lone student practicing at the front of the campus. Later I heard a French horn and a percussion group. “The tornado was on a Sunday, and we had Volunteer Day on Thursday. In less than a week we had space on the grounds to accommodate the music staff and students. The whole campus has come together—every college and university around the state called to help. Mississippi State sent a dozen people with chainsaws and generators. We had close to 1,000 volunteers on campus for Volunteer Day and picked up most of the debris.”

An ambitious front-campus landscape rehabilitation project is underway,

which includes an estimate of one year or less on the reopening of Ogletree House. (USM is undecided on when and how to replace the largest live oaks, some of which were more than half a century old.) With his most recent interim presidency behind him, Lucas will continue to promote and support his beloved alma mater. He will soon be turning his attention to Hattiesburg’s annual FestivalSouth celebration, scheduled for June 8-22. “I am a cheerleader. I think it’s so important for a president to support the university,” Lucas said. “When FestivalSouth rolls around each year, that’s where we’ll be—we don’t get anything else done. It’s a Jay Dean creation and has something for everyone. The first event could be a guitarist in a coffeehouse. Then, maybe, a trio at a church. The whole town becomes a venue. If you’re bored in Hattiesburg, you’re a boring person. It’s a rich place for intellectual stimulation.” Dean gives Lucas the credit. “Dr. Lucas has made it possible for many musicians who’ve been associated with USM—faculty or students—to work in an environment where what they do is respected and appreciated,” Dean said. “For those of us who’ve spent our careers here, it has meant the world to us.”

FESTIVALSOUTH WANT TO GO? Visit www.festivalsouth.org for ticket prices and a description of artists and performances that will include everything from the Tony-Award winning musical Hairspray to a Blues Brothers cover band. The events will take place on the USM campus and all over the Hattiesburg area.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

Saloon � natchez

FEATURE

Under-the-Hill

The best little watering hole east of the Mississippi

“Once thieves, cutthroats, ladies-of-the-night and riverboat gamblers lurked in the shadows and trod the dusty streets. Up from the docks where the great river packets were tied they came – up Silver Street to the heart of the most notorious port on the river. Up from the river they came to the saloons and taverns seeking the pleasures these places provided – cheap whiskey, illicit love or a winning hand at five-card stud … ” – Under-the-Hill Saloon BY SALLY DURKIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIANNE TODD

s patrons cross the threshold of Under-the-Hill Saloon in Natchez, they walk in the faded footprints of what were perhaps the most notorious, villainous characters to have lived in the Deep South. The famous – and infamous -- Saloon, could probably be touted as the oldest and most historic watering hole along the banks of the Mississippi River. The old building’s floor-to-ceiling front door and adjacent windows serve as portals, providing up close and personal views of the mighty muddy as it rolls past. One could spend hours perched on a bar stool, watching commercial barge traffic and the occasional sternwheeler cruise up and down the majestic waterway. It seems the Saloon is never without a Harley or two – or forty – parked outside, waiting for their owners to shake off the road’s dust at the best stop along the river. Inside, the faces of old photographs gaze at patrons, who dance ➔ The Under-the-Hill Saloon was built sometime in the 1830s and once served as a house of ill repute, where deck hands and cutthroats spent their evenings. Today, it serves as one of the best stops along the Mississippi River.

MAY. JUNE 2013

� MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

LEFT AND TOP: Memorabilia from the Saloon’s past graces the walls of the old building. • CENTER: Bartender J.D. Montgomery has gained in popularity, partly because of his good memory. Customers usually have their favorite drinks waiting for them by the time they reach their bar stools. • RIGHT: The watering hole is a popular spot for residents and for tourists, who enjoy the history and ambiance of the Saloon.

to the tunes of the house band, the Blue Haired Mafia, or who sit and sip their spirits for a rest. Everyone seems to be having a good time. It’s what this watering hole serves up best. The band – whose song list includes an array of rock, blues and the occasional country tune from nearly any era -- has a healthy regular following. For lead singer Marvin Moorehead, serving as the Saloon’s house band is a dream come true. “It’s a privilege, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and it took a long time to get to this point,” he said. “We did it by always being available when bands didn’t show up and because Andre’ [the owner] knew we would always bring a crowd.” Andre’ Farish Jr. and his sister, Melissa Farish Morrison, co-own the establishment, a partnership formed after their father, Andre’ Farish Sr., passed away in 2009. The building, constructed in the early 1830s, has served as a bakery, a pool hall, a beer joint and a grocery store over the course of its existence, and for a period of time, the upstairs served as a house of ill repute, where riverboat gamblers and crewmen were frequently entertained. When Under-the-Hill Saloon became a full time drinking and entertainment venue later in the century, it was patronized by an eclectic

MAY. JUNE 2013

mix of keel boat men, deck hands, cutthroats, thieves and prostitutes. The Farishes purchased the building in 1973, and after doing some much needed restoration, opened the bar two years later. Its walls have seen the bar’s share of sadness as well. On a rainy Saturday in late March of 1980, the 100-foot bluff – which anchors the saloon at its base -- let go of a weighty portion of earth, crashing into the building to the north of the Saloon and ultimately into the Saloon itself. Torrential rain had fallen for four days, loosening the ground beneath a stately oak tree rooted at the edge of the bluff. When it gave way, it triggered the mudslide. The delicatessen next door was celebrating its opening weekend. After the Bowie Knife had been consumed with mud, its weight collapsed the north end of the Saloon, killing an employee in the delicatessen, the bartender in the Saloon and trapping a few dozen patrons. The front upstairs portion of the building came tumbling down as well, making escape difficult for those inside. Dozens were injured by falling debris, flying glass and pieces of the mirror lining the wall behind the service bar. In a Natchez Democrat article the following day, one patron was quoted as saying “mud and debris, like a tidal wave, knocked many bar

~CALENDAR OF EVENTS~ April 15-26 • Billy Goats Gruff (Children’s Program) Saturday, May 4, 7PM MMPAC Rhapsody in Blue A Tribute to George Gershwin America’s Music Man Sunday, May 5, 4PM American Frontiers with Pianist Jonathan Levin Trinity Episcopal Church Friday, May 10, 7PM Puttin’ on the Ritz An Evening of Irving Berlin Van Court Town House Saturday, May 11, 10 AM - 4PM Second Saturday Art on the Bluff Refreshments in Shops 4 - 6 PM Saturday, May 11, 7PM MMPAC Bel Canto Gala with Superstars Paul Groves, Lucas Meachem Emily Pulley Maryann Kyle and Robert Grayson Gala at Gloucester Sunday, May 12, 4PM Homage to Adelina Patti Waverly Plantation 7PM Rossini, Puccini and Martinis in Eola Hotel Lobby

FOR MORE INFORMATION: visitnatchez.org • 800-647-6724

Thursday, May 16, 7PM The Black Swan of Natchez Elizabeth Taylor-Greenﬁeld An Illustrated Lecture by David Sansing, Ph.D. Trinity Episcopal Church Friday, May 17, 5 and 7PM The Black Swan of Natchez: Elizabeth Taylor-Greenﬁeld Tribute Cherokee Saturday, May 18, 7PM Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate MMPAC Sunday, May 19, 4PM Briarvue Musical Wine Tasting 7PM Rossini, Puccini and Martinis in Eola Hotel Lobby Friday, May 24, 7PM Alejandro Drago and the Tango Rendezvous Ensemble The Prentiss Club Saturday, May 25, 7PM MMPAC Rigoletto, Gala at Linden

TICKETS & PACKAGES natchezfestivalofmusic.com

SECOND SATURDAY

May 11 - Art on the Bluﬀ • 10pm - 4pm Refreshments in the shops 4-6 pm, Bel Canto Gala • 7pm MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

Marvin Moorehead belts out a tune with the Blue Haired Mafia. The band is the house band at the Under-the-Hill Saloon.

patrons out the windows in the front of the two-story brick building.” Four cars, one overturned, were covered with bricks, rocks and other debris that stretched across the street. Farish and his father spent the next year rebuilding the bar, nearly restoring it to its original state. Today, guests would never know the slide had occurred, but Farish still becomes melancholy when asked to recount the events of that day. After hours of sifting through rubble for the body of bartender Amy Russell, the Farishes walked up the hill to The Corner Bar. The two were served a cocktail by John David Montgomery, who would come to work for the Farishes the following year. Since then, “J.D.” has become a Saloon icon and celebrity. His popularity led to an invitation for Jackson’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade. “I had a blast,” he says. “It was an honor to be asked and great fun to be a part of it.” Most locals who frequent the Saloon appreciate Montgomery’s memory; their favorite spirit is waiting for them by the time they reach the bar stool. “His memory is as good as his blue eyes are piercing,” said one regular. “He will remember what you drink even if you don’t go down there for several months in a row.” Montgomery, with a stature of just under

MAY. JUNE 2013

five feet, has been known to grab a microphone and hop on a chair to belt out raspy renditions of “House of the Rising Sun” and “Jambalya (Down on da Bayou).” When not performing, he has countless stories to offer patrons of his tenure there. As for Farish, the Saloon has become a way of life. “It’s a heck of an interesting way to make a living … some good, some bad, but mostly good, ” he says. As the years have passed, his time has shifted from long, sometimes tumultuous nights assuring the bar is presentable for the next day’s patrons to mornings going over the previous night’s receipts. On occasion, he will hang around during afternoon hours to reminisce with regulars and tourists. He will talk about the events and experiences that have taken place inside the walls and on the porch of this little place at the bottom of the hill. Then he will head home for what he hopes will be a quiet, uneventful evening at Under-the-Hill Saloon. L WANT TO GO? Visit www. Underthehillsaloon.com for more information. Visit www.facebook.com/bluehairedmafia for a list of dates and times the Blue Haired Mafia will play.

VB.2013SesquAd.7.875x4.85.qxp:Layout 1 4/10/13 5:04 PM Page 1

BattleofVicksburg Sesquicentennial Commemoration

Vicksburg Commemorates 150 Year Anniversary:

April 30 – May 28: Vicksburg National Military Park State Monument Ceremonies May 10-12: Civil War Film Festival “Vicksburg Through the Lens” at Strand Theatre May 26-27: Holt Collier Sacred Harp Singing at Old Court House Museum May 23-27: Vicksburg Sesquicentennial Signature Event at the Vicksburg National Military Park * Weekend Nightly Concerts: US Navy Band, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra with Trace Adkins, Jackson Community Mass Choir June & July: Living History Presentations Fridays – Tuesdays at the Vicksburg National Military Park July 3: Grand Illumination at Vicksburg National Military Park July 4: Anniversary of Vicksburg Surrender July 4: Fireworks Show at the Waterfront Scan the QR code to visit the Vicksburg Campaign’s Sesquicentennial website.

www.keytothesouth.com www.vicksburg150.com www.facebook.com/visitvicksburg @VisitVicksburg

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

vicksburg

Poet laureate of the blues

BY SHIRLEY B. WARING PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN FLYNT

“The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.” - Willie Dixon

ouble bassist, producer, arranger and writer, Vicksburg’s Willie Dixon spent his formative years in the bustling river town. Impacting genres from blues (Chicago and jump) to rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues and gospel, Dixon would become one of the world’s most significant influences on modern music.

Dixon and his family lived on Crawford Street in a house with pink columns. The area still remains quaint and picturesque with boardwalks in front of the houses spanning the Crawford Street Canal. When he was two, the family moved a few blocks away to the Openwood Triangle area where his mother, Daisy Dixon, operated a restaurant. The

Writing in the simple eloquence that was the hallmark of his style, Dixon penned more than 500 songs, earning the title “Poet Laureate of the Blues.” With his most famous compositions including “Little Red Rooster,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Evil,” “Spoonful,” “Back Door Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “My Babe,” “Wang Dang Doodle,” “You Shook Me” and “Bring it on Home,” Dixon is considered perhaps the most prolific songwriter of his time. Many of his tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965. Performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, the music influenced a worldwide generation of musicians. In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with its cover version of Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster.” His songs have been covered extensively, and revered by contemporary artists including John Mayall, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, The Doors, Buddy Guy, The Grateful Dead and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The list goes on.

neighborhood was diverse, an international melting pot. His childhood pals were Syrian, Lebanese, Chinese and African-American. Throughout his lifetime, Dixon visited his hometown often. He treasured his friends and his childhood memories of Vicksburg. At age 7, Dixon became fascinated with the entertainment at neighborhood jukes. He was known to sneak into places like Curley’s Barrel House, where he would see such artists as pianist Little Brother Montgomery at work. His mother’s propensity to say things in rhyme heavily influenced the young Dixon. He began rhyming and writing. While in middle school, Dixon wrote his first song, “Signifying Monkey,” in a rhythmic style that years later became known as rap. Industrious and enormously creative, he wrote, printed and sold his work. That was just the beginning. His upbringing in the church prepared Dixon to sing bass in the popular gospel quartet, The Jubilee Singers. They were regulars on a

MAY. JUNE 2013

 Painting of Willie Dixon by Eric Bo Jones.

WQBC radio show, broadcast from The Vicksburg, an elegant high-rise hotel brand new in the 1930s. Dixon was writing and selling songs to local musicians and was a steady customer at the Farris record shop near the lobby of the hotel. Leaving Vicksburg, he went to Memphis, had a brush with the law, and ended up in jail. But that internment would have its purpose. It was where Dixon first heard the blues. In due course, he made his way to Chicago, organized several groups, and eventually formed the Big Three Trio. His work with that group began his recording career with Columbia Records. As Chicago blues began evolving, Dixon became one of the key figures in the creation of the sound. He appeared on many of Chuck Berry’s early recordings, and their work would further tie the influence of the blues to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. By 1951, Dixon had landed a significant position with Chess Records in Chicago, writing, arranging and producing for stars like Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Etta James. A compelling account of the early years at Chess Records is narrated by the Willie Dixon character in the 2008 film “Cadillac Records.” At age 65, Dixon was inducted at the inaugural session of the Blues

Foundation’s ceremony and into the Blues Hall of Fame. Nine years later, he was also the recipient of a Grammy for his album, “Hidden Charms.” Bob Dylan credited Dixon for the music of the song “My Wife’s Hometown” on his album “Together Through Life,” and gave special thanks to Dixon’s estate. In his later years, Dixon became an advocate for blues musicians who had been exploited. Founding The Blues Heaven Foundation, he worked to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues. Dixon, who struggled with diabetes, died of heart failure in Burbank, Calif., on January 29, 1992, and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the “early influences” category in 1994. Since that time, Dixon has been appreciated, celebrated, loved and respected worldwide. The Vicksburg Blues Society’s program of work includes honoring and perpetuating his legacy. In 2002, the VBS worked with the City of Vicksburg in dedicating a street named for him, “Willie Dixon Way,” inspired by his widow, Marie Dixon, by the notion of doing things “Willie’s Way.” The Willie Dixon Mississippi Blues Trail marker honors Dixon and commemorates his vast contributions to music. More recently, the VBS has worked with various artists in the community to create a special blues art exhibit, including portraits of Dixon by accomplished artists Ann Biedenharn Jones and Eric Bo Jones. The paintings are showcased at various venues around town, with an exhibit scheduled this summer at the Lower Mississippi River Museum in downtown Vicksburg. The VBS honors Dixon’s birthday each year with an Independence Day weekend celebration, “Red, White and Blues,” organizing performances and tributes to Dixon throughout the city. This year, the July 5-6 weekend will feature a special show honoring Dixon by Mr. Sipp, “The Mississippi Blues Child” at the Ameristar Bottleneck Blues Bar. The Dixon home on Crawford Street Bayou is no longer standing with the plan to demolish the home discovered too late. A single pink column was salvaged and taken to Chicago, where it is part of the Willie Dixon Blues Heaven Foundation exhibit. L WANT TO GO? This year’s Independence Day weekend in Vicksburg will pay homage to the poet laureate, Willie Dixon, with a special show by Mr. Sipp “The Mississippi Blues Child.” Fore more information, visit www.vicksburgheritage.com Shirley B. Waring is president of the Vicksburg Blues Society, Inc.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

MAY. JUNE 2013

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

tupelo

Elvis Festival headlined by Cowboy Mouth, Montgomery Gentry

he Tupelo Elvis Festival is perhaps most widely known for its Elvis Tribute Artist Competition, but this year’s headliners are sure to steal some of the spotlight. Slated for June 7, Cowboy Mouth takes center stage at Fairpark, a music event that drew record crowds from around the globe during last year’s festival. Cowboy Mouth achieved success with 15 Top-10 Billboard chart songs and five No. 1 hits, and the band plans to make no exceptions to its performance at this year’s event. Following Cowboy Mouth on June 8 is the popular Country band Montgomery Gentry. The hugely popular Elvis Tribute Artist contest remains a highlight of the festival. Slated at downtown Tupelo’s Lyric Theatre, contestants compete for the title of Tupelo’s Elvis Tribute Artist based on their singing and performance ability – and their likeness to Elvis. Each night, former Tupelo winners perform their tribute to the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll to a packed audience. An exciting addition to the Lyric will be “Conversations on the Ultimate with Tom Brown.” A native of Tupelo, Brown will converse with Tupelo’s Ultimates Brandon Bennett, Bill Cherry and Cody Slaughter to discuss what it’s like being an Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist. Sponsored by the Tupelo Main Street Association, this year marks the 15th annual celebration that draws Elvis fans from around the world. L

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• THE SCHEDULE • FAIRPARK CONCERTS FRIDAY, JUNE 7TH Cowboy Mouth The Cadillac Three Kirk Chism and the Lost Highway

SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH Montgomery Gentry Skylar Laine Surviving Allison Each night will be opened by an Elvis Tribute Artist

THE ULTIMATE GOSPEL FOR THE SOUL BRUNCH AND CONCERT SUNDAY, JUNE 9TH Shawn Klush, Elvis Presley Enterprise’s ‘First Ever’ Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist The Blackwood Quartet Joe Moscheo of the Imperials The Landmarks The Tupelo Unity Choir

SIMULCAST VIEWING OF THE NIGHT ETA COMPETITIONS AND CONCERTS THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCES Live Viewing inside of tent outside the Lyric Theatre

OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT ON BROADWAY SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH Free entertainment and children’s activities on Broadway Street along with food and merchandise.

PET PAGEANT & PARADE SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH All animals welcome to participate in “look like Elvis” pet pageant and parade. Takes place on the Broadway Street stage at 9 a.m. Pre-registration and day of registration available at www.tupeloelvisfestival.com. WANT TO GO? For more information, or to purchase tickets for Fairpark and Gospel Brunch events , visit www.tupeloelvisfestival.com, phone (662) 841-6598 or visit 108 South Broadway in Downtown Tupelo. Tickets can also be purchased at the gate on the day of events.

. Pat. & TM Off

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

jackson

Circa.

URBAN ARTISAN LIVING circa (cir路ca) preposition: in or approximately, used especially with dates WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIANNE TODD

MAY. JUNE 2013

ichele Escude` has always been able to appreciate the beauty of art while also valuing the synergy that exists between art and functionality. “We surround ourselves with it and use it in our every day lives,” says the Jackson entrepreneur, who with her husband, Craig Escude`, own Circa. URBAN ARTISAN LIVING. Artists themselves – although he also is a practicing family physician and she has a retail background – opening a store that hosts the work of 250 American artists, was a natural fit. Once the couple found the space that fit the vibe Michele was searching for, work began to create the sights, smells and sounds Michele wanted for her unique shop. Housed between Rainbow Grocery and Cups in the Fondren District of Jackson, the shop well exudes the clean fragrance, style and feel of hand-picked artisan work. “Circa literally means ‘period of time,’” Michele says. “Everything has a circa, an origination date of when it was created. And we’re in the middle of a city, so that is urban living. We wanted to share that with others.”  ABOVE: Silk Ruana by Joy Light.  TOP: Craig and Michele Escude` created their urban artisan living store in 2010. Since

then they’ve searched the country for the most unique and functional artisan finds. BOTTOM: (L-R) Circa offers custom fragrances for colognes, soaps, gels, shaving creams – with a wide range of floral and earthy scents. • Gold vermeil, 14k overlay, gemstones jewlery.

June 6th - 9th Lyric & Broadway

Fairpark

Live Simulcast (Evening Concerts) Big Jim & Argo Late Night Dance Party Pet Parade & Pageant Free Entertainment & Children’s Activities Food & Craft Vendors “Ultimate Gospel for the Soul” Brunch & Concert

Montgomery Gentry Cowboy Mouth

Skylar Laine The Cadillac Three Surviving Allison Kirk Chism & The Lost Highway Elvis Tribute Artist Food & Merchandise Vendor Carnival

Full Details & Ticket Information

www.tupeloelvisfestival.com 662.841.6598

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

ABOVE-OPPOSITE: When not shopping for artisan items Michele Escude` is busy creating the sights, sounds and smells of her artisan urban living store in Fondren. CENTER: (L-R) Graphite writing scuptures by Kelly Barker • Pewter torso sculptures by Craig Escude`. • Reclaimed wooden wine bottle stoppers by Allen Davis.

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A perfect fusion of New Orleans and New York with a Napa feel, of the store’s artists, about one-third are represented from Mississippi. The Escudes have worked to develop relationships with artisans that have led to networking with even more across the country. “I just returned from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from an artisan market of 800. This is the cream of the crop,”Michele says. “When I go there, I’m looking for things I cannot find here. I’m not a big shopper, but I’m always looking for that wow factor. Out of the 800 artists there, I brought back 25. It was four full days, and it was so intense. It’s not that the art has to be special as in fancy, but it has to have a balance and rhythm that I’m

attuned to.” Appealing to the senses is perhaps the art’s most important quality. Circa offers an ample selection of custom fragrances for colognes, soaps, shower and bath gels, lotions and shaving creams; artisan scent bars and soap rocks; wine accessories, dishes and glasses; sculptures, paintings, clocks, jewelry in 14k overlay, vermeil and gemstones; silk scarves, jackets and shawls. Best of all, her selections are created to fit any budget. “Appealing to the senses has always been very important to me,” Michele says. “The look, the sounds, the smells have to feel good.” L www.circaliving.com

ď&#x192;Š Giclees painting and photography by Michael Dehaven

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

  Whether it’s music or Civil War history that interests you, we’ve got it at the Delta Cultural Center, with events and exhibits that showcase the rich heritage of the Delta. Make plans to visit and experience what makes the Arkansas Delta so special! Delta Cultural Center 141 Cherry St., Helena, AR 72342 Phone: (800) 358-0972 www.deltaculturalcenter.com www.facebook.com/DeltaCulturalCenter

 

MAY. JUNE 2013

           

Clarksdale, Mississippi has so much to offer... Just one hour south of Memphis, this Mississippi Delta town known for its world-renowned Blues and other cultural activities has various events planned this spring to keep you entertained.

is is... g n i Spr nd so a e r e h

Friday at the Stage 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. Blues Alley Stage

FEATURING:

April 26 Bruce Brewer Loose Bruce & the Deep Water Baptists

May 3 Sean “Bad Apple” & Dixie Street All Night Long Blues Band

May 10 Ken Spencer Under the Gun

May 17 Ricky Burton Da Soul Band

May 24 Marshall Drew Party Shot

Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and join your friends down at the stage for good family fun.

Friday at the Stage Sponsors (to date) Nabors GMC-Toyota Delta Blues Museum Crossroads Picks (Dr. Charles Cesare) First National Bank of Clarksdale J’s Grocery

SafTCart

Hal Fiser Agency/Fiser Insurance Agency Phelps Security Systems, Inc. Scoular Company

Emily Cooper Other sponsors TBA.

An Event of the Clarksdale/Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce www.clarksdale-ms.com • 662-627-7337

Mark your calendars now for these upcoming events and make plans to visit and be engrossed in all that is

CLARKSDALE!

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

philadelphia // ocean springs

FEATURE L

CHOCTAW GARDENS

Book of photographs inspired by Mississippi’s past WORDS BY STEPHEN CORBETT PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES EDWARD BATES

HILDA STUART’S rich, Southern

Stuart says. “My son, Marty, recently had it

accent complements her work.

restored. It’s the camera that was used for the

“I guess I first became interested in taking

pictures in the book. I loved taking pictures.

pictures from my granddaddy … Sitting

I wanted to document everything that I saw. I

with him on the screened porch looking at

wanted to remember the way of life that I saw

Life magazine,” Stuart begins, her words

around me. I wanted my kids to know who

conjuring the same images of the South’s rich

their grandmothers were.”

past that she has captured in photographs for

more than 60 years. “I didn’t have a camera.

baptisms of new members of Old Pearl Valley

But I remember thinking, ‘If I had a camera,

Baptist Church in the Levi Stuart pond,

I’d just take everyone’s picture I could.’”

Stuart family reunions at the Linton Darby

farm and her husband, John Stuart, rowing

She got that opportunity when her older

brother won a camera selling Grit newspapers. She was 16 at the time. She became obsessed

down a lake in the Mississippi Delta. It also Hilda Stuart

with it and finally received one of her own a

The life she saw around her included

included a very young Marty Stuart playing mandolin onstage with bluegrass legend Bill

few years later. Despite never pursuing photography as a profession,

Monroe, touring with Lester Flatt and his first meeting with Connie

she did work as an assistant at the George Day Photography Studio

Smith – whom he later married.

for a period in the mid-50s.

In the years that have passed, Stuart, 79, has fulfilled her prophecy

favorite country singer. My daughter Jennifer was a big fan also.

of taking everyone’s picture she could: photographs range from her

Marty was mostly listening to stuff like Johnny Cash at the time,”

family and friends in Mississippi’s tiny town of Philadelphia to music

Stuart remembers. “I took a picture of them with Connie after the

legends like Lester Flatt, Johnny Cash and her son, Marty Stuart.

show. On the way home, Marty kept saying, ‘Boy, she was pretty.’ I

Many of these pictures were published on the pages of her first

just laughed and told him, ‘You’re late, buster.’”

publication, Choctaw Gardens, released in late 2012.

from the late 1940s on, and also as a chronicle of Marty Stuart’s early

“My first camera of my own was a 120 film Ansco camera,”

MAY. JUNE 2013

“Connie Smith came to the Choctaw Indian Fair. She was my

The book serves as a document of life in the Mississippi Delta

Marty Stuart with his mother, Hilda Stuart, after an Ocean Springs concert.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

“I took some pictures from the balcony at the Opry, but I was lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time staying in the background. I really like the picture of Hank Snow getting tuned up backstage before going out to play. I got to see things like that that other people didn’t.” - Hilda Stuart years and the start of his career. “One of my favorite pictures in the book

had been framed, mostly ones of the kids. I never thought to do anything

is from 1960. Marty is sitting on a piano bench with one of our neighbors

else with them. Growing up like I did on a farm, I never would have thought

wearing nothing but a diaper and singing at the top of his lungs.”

this would happen,” she says. “I had no idea that I’d ever have a book. I kept

all of the negatives, too. They just stayed there in that closet until Marty

There are a number of shots of vintage country stars from the Ryman

Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

took them away to have them developed.”

“I took some pictures from the balcony at the Opry, but I was lucky

Marty Stuart, who published two books featuring his photography and

enough to be able to spend a lot of time staying in the background. I really

who has served as the photographer for albums such as Porter Wagoner’s

like the picture of Hank Snow getting tuned up backstage before going out

classic final release “Wagonmaster,” has a deep appreciation for good

to play. I got to see things like that that other people didn’t.”

photography. When asked who his favorite photographer is, he answers,

“My mom,” without hesitation.

In the days of cell phone snapshots, Stuart credits the quality of her

photographs to the cost of film, especially for someone growing up in the

Delta at that time. The film was expensive, as was the cost of sending the

penned a song or Muddy Waters played a guitar solo: effortless and

film off in the mail and paying to have it developed. Each image would be

unexplainable.

carefully exposed and composed before the shutter was released.

mentioned the quality of his mother’s work to his friend Tom Rankin.

Oddly, the photographs remained unseen for years by anyone other

He has likened her skill behind a camera to the way Hank Williams

The wheels for Choctaw Gardens began turning when Marty Stuart

than her close friends and family.

The pair organized an exhibit of Hilda Stuart’s work to appear at Duke

University’s Center for Documentary Studies, of which Rankin is director.

“They had really been sitting around for years in a closet. Part of them

Hilda Stuart holds a book signing with her son, Marty Stuart, and daughter-in-law, Connie Smith, on the stage of the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center for Arts and Education in Bay St. Louis. Her photographic book, Choctaw Gardens, became a success in the fall of 2012.

MAY. JUNE 2013

On the opening night of March 2, 2011, the public was able to view the world through Hilda’s eyes for the first time.

“That was a real special night for me,” she says humbly. “Tom told me

that was the first time that he’d ever had an exhibit with someone whose work he hadn’t even seen before. I couldn’t believe so many people would be so interested in those old pictures.”

Spurred by the success of her exhibit, a decision was made to publish

her work. With her two children, Stuart began digging through decades of history to compile the final product, which came out through Nautilus Publishing in September, 2012.

“I’m really proud of the book. Tom wrote the foreword and Marty

wrote the afterword. It’s doing well for me, and a lot of people seem to like it a lot,” she says.

Critics have lauded Choctaw Gardens with praise, comparing it

to the work of Southern author and photographer Eudora Welty and photographer William Eggleston. Music legend Merle Haggard, known as the “Working Man’s Poet,” was particularly impressed with Choctaw Gardens and released a statement saying, “Hilda Stuart’s photographs come straight from the heart of the American dream. They have stories to tell.”

“I have about three or four cameras right now, but I still use the old

Ansco camera. And I’m still taking pictures of anything that I find of interest,” Hilda says.

Choctaw Gardens is available at most major book retailers and online at www.choctawgardens.com.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

biloxi

CUISINE

IF WALLS COULD TALK Mary Mahoney’s Old French House BY KARA MARTINEZ BACHMAN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIANNE TODD

t Mary Mahoney’s, the past echoes from walls that have witnessed both the joys and sorrows of generations. From family milestones that give meaning to the lives of many on the coast, to the raging winds and water from hurricanes, Mary Mahoney’s has seen it all. Steeped in the ambiance of various centuries that have played out within its aged walls, this Biloxi landmark dishes up not only renowned food, but also a heaping dose of the old world. Really, however, it is not that simple. Mary Mahoney’s is not about a certain date, or about a certain era—it is about the comings and goings of time. Throughout the years, the historic-home-turned-restaurant had been a residence to many. From the two little old ladies who owned it just before it became Mary Mahoney’s in 1964 to former residents such as Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, governor of the Louisiana Territory and a prime figure in the history of the South, the building has had many owners and many lives. “The house was built in 1737, so it’s one of the oldest structures in America … it is pretty much an icon of the Gulf Coast,” says Eileen Mahoney Ezell, daughter of founder Mary Mahoney and one of the restaurant’s current owners. “This had been the home of Bienville. That is why it’s known as the Old French House. A lot of people say, ‘Are you a French restaurant?’ We say, ‘No … it’s always been known as the French House.’” “The people that have come through have come here as children,

MAY. JUNE 2013

Steeped in the ambiance of various centuries that have played out within its aged walls, this Biloxi landmark dishes up not only renowned food, but also a heaping dose of the old world.â&#x20AC;?

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

some of them have had rehearsal dinners here, gotten married here, or come back as grandparents with their grandchildren. We’ve been here so long that families have grown up with it.” A stroll through the courtyard area gives evidence that this is a place that has witnessed scars and joys. The restaurant displays menus and other ephemera that document its 48 years as a fine dining establishment, its deep history as a home and its place in the history of Biloxi, including water line signs denoting heights that flood waters reached during Hurricane Katrina’s deluge in 2005. The old world of this building seems so different from the modern one of its immediate surroundings. Just across Beach Boulevard from the hulking properties of the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock casinos, the Old French House may be dwarfed in size, but it remains a solitary giant in local culture. Having survived generations, the brick and stucco building has withstood the test of time in ways that few others have. A meal served under the high ceilings and chandeliers can feel like a trip to centuries past. Alternatively, a sunny lunch on the front porch, with its wall of windows, a delight. Live Oaks provide the view just outside, which is no doubt similar to that enjoyed by Bienville when he lived here. Dining on the porch almost feels like a step back to a time in the middle of the 20th Century. Mature waiters in elegant jackets and bow ties fill water glasses and dexterously remove silver domes from serving plates, making the dining affair feel like a throwback – a time before the standardized, big-box restaurants did away with stability, and family and the allure of real local cuisine. The family feel of the restaurant is enhanced by the longevity of the wait staff. “When they work here they just don’t leave,” says Ezell. “It’s a family-run business, and we treat them like family. I have a couple of waiters who have been here over 40 years—I think three of them.” The Southern coastal vibe is not just for locals. Tourists, some of them notable, flock to the restaurant despite a burgeoning collection of fine dining options offered. From politicians to media personalities, Mary Mahoney’s is a hotspot for immersing in the best of the South.

A meal served under the high ceilings and chandeliers can feel like a trip to centuries past. Pristine tables await guests while busboys prepare more rooms for diners. The old-world feel resonates throughout the restaurant from floor to ceiling.

MAY. JUNE 2013

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: hearty seafood gumbo, flounder imperial, shrimp cocktail, Mississippi Mud Pie, bread pudding and soft shell crab.

“We send John Grisham a care package every Christmas because we’re in two of his books, ‘Runaway Jury’ and ‘The Partner,’” Ezell says. “He says it’s his favorite restaurant in Mississippi, that it’s always their Christmas dinner, or Christmas Eve dinner. He loves gumbo.” The writer is not alone among high profile people who delight in the landmark restaurant’s seafood-heavy menu offerings. “When Denzel Washington was here, he ordered like ten gallons [of gumbo] to ship to his North Hollywood home. He did a cast party. A lot of people have tried it and they love it.” There is much talk about this favorite dish. “One of our waiters, his grandfather was one of our first cooks. He did the gumbo and we’ve been making it the same ever since. We have consistency. If people ate the gumbo ten years ago, they’re gonna come back and be like, ‘This is what I remember.’” News personality Anderson Cooper can count himself among those who contribute to the restaurant’s history.

MAY. JUNE 2013

Ezell tells of Cooper’s visit as a child. No doubt, the Mahoneys remembered him because he was the young son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and screenwriter Wyatt Cooper. The television journalist had forgotten his earlier Biloxi visit until his return after Katrina. He came back to cover the aftermath of the storm, and chose the restaurant as a meeting point for a CNN interview with John Grisham. Ezell said Cooper didn’t understand when her brother, Bobby Mahoney, welcomed him back to the restaurant. “Bobby said, ‘You and your brother were about ten years old, and you came with your daddy—he was here for a book signing,’” Ezell said. “And it was like stars went off. He said, ‘I remember going to a water park!’ And Bobby said, ‘Yep, you came in wrapped in a towel.’” Despite its brush with greatness, the notables never overshadow the food. From a delicious light lunch of shrimp salad to a rich dinner of buttery seafood, Mary Mahoney’s is a seafood lover’s dream. Although there are a few chicken dishes for lunch, such as Fried

Food photographs by James Edward Bates.

Chicken Breast Almondine, and a nice collection of beef offerings for dinner, including Filet Mignon and Prime Rib, the name of the game at Mary Mahoney’s has always been seafood. The most popular menu items, the “World Famous Seafood Gumbo” and favorites such as the Fried Softshell Crabs, draw the most attention. However, Mary Mahoney’s offers a wide variety of savory seafood choices that reflect a coastal vibe of freshness and abundance. Much of the menu is not for calorie-counters or for culinary lightweights; this kitchen means business. One example is the Flounder Imperial, a more recent addition to the nightly menu. This stuffed fish offers an indulgence that goes above and beyond as it’s stuffed with solid crabmeat and not a crabmeat dressing. At $44, it is one of the pricier menu items—but Ezell reports that diners enjoy the over-the-top seafood indulgence. From Fried Shrimp and Fried Oysters to Lobster Tails, there is a variety to choose from. All

dinner entrees start at $25, and lunch entrees start at $12.95. There is also an ample wine list and enjoyable selection of appetizers. Dinner at Mary Mahoney’s would not be complete without a serving of bread pudding. This Southern favorite is served with a buttery rum sauce; it is the perfect way to round out any meal. Although the food is delicious, there’s something meaningful about dining among residual memories of wedding banquets past, or of French leaders who shaped the Gulf Coast or of family meals served by a favorite black-tied waiter. And Mary Mahoney’s understands that what they own goes well beyond mere sustenance. “We ship the gumbo all over the country,” says Ezell. “I had one guy who said, ‘I was in there and I had your gumbo, and when I got it at home it really didn’t taste the same.’ I said, ‘Sir, I can’t ship atmosphere.’ And he said, ‘You’re probably right.’” L

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

bay st. louis

PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN FLYNT

Visit Bay St. Louis’ welcome center. Learn about the area’s attractions and see the great new Mardi Gras and Alice Moseley Folk Art museums.

4. Purchase pottery from some of the best potters in the state.

2. Eat a good meal and enjoy some spirits at Jack’s downtown.

5. Browse a number of great art galleries and gift shops.

3. Shop for novelties and gifts.

6. Check out books from local writers and photographers.

MAY. JUNE 2013

10. Visit the Marion and Agony Grotto. The artwork is fabulous. Restaurants, art galleries and specialty shops in Bay St. Louis’ Old Town play host to a thriving themed social once each month. It’s a party – always thrown on the second Saturday of the month – that has attracted residents and tourists to this artsy coastal community for 20 years. Merchants, restaurants, cafés, watering holes and galleries – even the town’s antiquated theater - offer extended hours, specialty items, sales, art shows and live music; guests stroll the streets, enjoying food, sights and live street music with their families and children in tow. Hours are 4 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.baystlouisoldtown.com.

Stop by Serious Bread for a sample of their amazing artisan bread.

11. Take in a beautiful ocean view.

Check out paintings and other artwork from noted local artists.

12. Enjoy some nightlife.

Visit an artist cooperative like this one at Clay Creations for a sampling of the best art the coast has to offer.

Take in a round of golf at the beautiful The Bridges golf course at the

13. beautiful Hollywood Casino.

MISSISSIPPILEGENDS.COM

What’s shakin’ around the state? bay st. louis May 18....................Mary Wilson - Hollywood Casino - www.hollywoodbsl.com - (866) 758-2591

bentonia Jun 15.....................Bentonia Blues Festival - Holmes Farm - www.facebook.com/BentoniaBluesFestival - (662) 528-1900

biloxi May 25....................Lee Greenwood - Island View Casino - www.islandviewcasino.com - (877) 774-8439 Jun 1.......................Buddy Guy - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (888) 946-2847 Jun 15.....................The Commodores - Island View Casino - www.islandviewcasino.com - (877) 774-8439 Jun 22.....................Kenny Rogers - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (888) 946-2847 Jul 12......................Steve Miller Band - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625

canton Jul 4-7.....................Mississippi Championship Hot Air Balloon Fest - Downtown Canton - www.ballooncanton.com - (800) 844-3369

clarksdale May 24....................Heavy Suga and The SweeTones - Ground Zero - www.groundzerobluesclub.com - (662) 621-9009 Jun 1.......................Big Al and The Heavy Weights - Ground Zero - www.groundzerobluesclub.com - (662) 621-9009 Jun 7 & 8................Delta Jubilee - Clarksdale Expo Center - www.visitthedelta.com - (662) 627-7337

greenwood Jan 26-Aug 31.........War Comes to the Mississippi Delta: The Sesquicentennial of the Yazoo Pass Expedition - Museum of the Mississippi Delta ...............................www.museumofthemississippidelta.com - (662) 453-0925 Jun 27.....................Stars & Stripes - Downtown Greenwood - www.greenwoodms.com - (662) 453-7625

hattiesburg Jun 8-22..................FestivalSouth - Downtown Hattiesburg - www.festivalsouth.org - (601) 296-7475

hernando Jun 7.......................Digging the Music - Hernando Public Library - www.sodesoto.com - (662) 429-4439

indianola Jul 3........................B.B. King Homecoming - B.B. King Museum - www.bbkingmuseum.org - (662) 887-2264

jackson Every Mon..............Central MS Blues Society - Hal and Mal’s - www.halandmals.com - (601) 948-0888 Jun 3 & 4................The Addams Family - Thalia Mara Hall - www.kesslerbroadway.com - (601) 960-1537

Jun 4, 20.................Music in the City - Mississippi Museum of Art - www.meridianmuseum.org - (601) 960-1515

meridian May 17....................The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill, Dawn Sears, Kenny Sears and Ranger Doug Green - MSU Riley Center ...............................www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200 Jun 1.......................Keb’ Mo’ - MSU Riley Center - www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200

natchez May 18....................Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate - Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center - www.natchezfestivalofmusic.com - (800) 647-6742 May 24....................Alejandro Drago and the Tango Rendezvous Ensemble - Prentiss Club - www.natchezfestivalofmusic.com - (601) 445-2210 Jun 8.......................Big River Jamboree - Natchez Shrine Temple - www.facebook.com/TheSureFireBand - (601) 442-9651

olive branch Every Thu................Spring Hootenannies - Old Towne Olive Branch - www.olivebrancholdtowne.com - 662- 893-0888

oxford Jun 14-Jul 7.............Oxford Shakespeare Festival - University of Mississippi - www.shakespeare.olemiss.edu - (662) 915-7411

pass christian May 26....................Jazz in the Pass - War Memorial Park - www.jazzinthepass.com - (228) 452-3315 Jun 1 & 2................Pass Christian BBQ & BBQ & Blues Festival - Pass Christian Harbor - www.passchristianbbqandblues.com - (228) 222-2921

philadelphia Jul 10-13.................Choctaw Indian Fair - Choctaw Indian Reservation - www.choctawindianfair.com - (601) 650-7450

tunica May 18....................Gladys Knight - Gold Strike Casino - www.goldstrikemississippi.com - (888) 245-7529 Jun 13-15................Memphis Film Festival - Sam’s Town - www.samstowntunica.com - (662) 363-0711

tupelo May 15-19..............Tupelo Film Festival - Downtown Tupelo - www.welovetupelo.com - (800)533-0611 Jun 6-9....................Elvis Presley Festival - Downtown Tupelo - www.tupeloelvisfestival.com - (662) 841-6598

southaven Jun 21-30................Thoroughly Modern Millie - Landers Theatre - www.dftonline.org - (662) 470-2131 Jul 2........................Big Time Rush - Landers Center - www.landerscenter.com - (662) 342-4842

vicksburg Every 2nd & 4th Tue. ...Central MS Blues Society - LD’s Kitchen - www.centralmississippibluessociety.com - (601) 218-1115

Home to blues legends like Kenny Brown, Joe Callicott, Memphis Minnie, Don McMinn and more, the blues have deep roots here in DeSoto County. Come catch a live show or travel back in time along our historic Blues Trail. For a free vacation guide, call 662-393-8770 or visit SoDeSoto.com.

Blues Trail

Museum

Great Venues

Shopping

In Northwest Mississippi, minutes from Memphis and Tunica. With 36 hotels, 7 B+B’s, 250+ restaurants and lots of fun activities, a great time is just a phone call away.

SOULFUL!

DeSoto County, Mississippi H e r n a n d o · H o r n L a k e · oLive BrancH · SoutHaven · WaLLS

Find Your True Rhythm The rhythm of America’s music was born in Mississippi. Blues, country music and rock ‘n’ roll started right here in the most Southern place on earth, the one mother of True Southern Culture—Mississippi. From juke joints and country music stages to rock ‘n’ roll concerts, you will hear the authentic and sincere sounds and stories that make this special place the True Birthplace of America’s Music. From festivals and fairs to impromptu jam sessions, Mississippians are right in the spotlight making the music that is defined, appreciated and preserved by generations past, present and future. Mississippi was, is and always will be the most inspiring place to Find Your True South.

Blues Mural, Leland

V i s i t M i s s i s s i p p i . o r g • 1. 8 6 6 . S E E M I S S