Actor Morgan Freeman highlighted many events going on throughout Clarksdale on New Year’s Eve Monday as tourists and Coahoma County residents went to different clubs to ring in 2019.
Freeman, a co-owner of Ground Zero Blues Club, arrived at around 10 p.m. with family and friends, including his son, Alfonso, and they helped count down to the new year on stage.
Freeman is friends with Ground Zero Blues Club co-owner and former mayor Bill Luckett.
“Somehow, we got on the map closer to 10 years ago,” Freeman said. “The spirit that we hold is happening in Clarksdale with rejuvenation.”
Freeman comes to Clarksdale as much as possible for the new year. He said he has been in town for at least five New Year’s Eves.
“This is the Delta Blues home,” he said. “We do Delta Blues. The basis of American music is right here.”
Freeman brought optimism to the new year.
“Of course, there are good things for 2019,” he said. “I don’t know what, but good things.”
Freeman said his favorite musician is blues guitarist and instrument maker James “Super Chikan” Johnson, who is from Clarksdale and the nephew of Big Jack Johnson.
“Super Chikan” has played on New Year’s Eve at the Ground Zero Blues Club since it first opened several years ago.
“The best place to count it down and the best place to start a new year is at the Ground Zero,” Freeman said. “It’s the home of the blues. We’re at the crossroads. I’m happy to see another year.”
Some of the other New Year’s Eve events were the Rustenhaven Band at the Hopson Commissary and Lucious Spiller at Red's Blues Club.
Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, came to Clarksdale several years ago with a goal of having live blues seven nights a week.
“By the end of the year, we’ve covered 365 nights of live blues in Clarksdale, even Christmas, even Christmas Eve, even Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day,” he said. “There is no other town in Mississippi that can brag like that and say we have live blues seven nights a week, year round.”
It was not until three years ago that Clarksdale had a blues musician playing every night.
“We were close to it, but occassionally we’d miss a holiday, but this year, like every year, if somebody can’t do it, somebody steps up,” Stolle said. “Hambone, for example, stepped up to do Christmas Eve, Christmas night when nobody else wanted to do it. And there were a handful of tourists. There weren’t a lot, but there were tourists and they were very thankful.”
Spiller has been to Clarksdale for many different functions, but said it was the first time he played music in town on New Year’s Eve.
“Bringing in the music right, playing music,” Spiller said. “It looks good so far.”
Spiller said he has played at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and many other places on New Year’s Eve in the past.
But Clarksdale brought its own uniqueness.
“It’s the new epicenter for the blues of the world,” Spiller said.
The Rustenhaven Band was one of the few opportunities in Clarksdale to find music other than blues on New Year’s Eve.
“The people here respect music,” said band leader Joel Rustenhaven. “It doesn’t matter what venue. They respect music of all kinds.
“They come to Clarksdale to have a good time, listen to some music and party. That’s what we love about it, especially Hopson’s. Hopson’s is the place to be.”
The Rustenhaven Band, out of Memphis, has been in Clarksdale for five New Year’s Eves.
Individuals come to the Clarksdale New Year’s Eve events just to have a good time.
Ed Stauffer and his wife, Sandy, are from a little town north of Seattle and have a house in Clarksdale. They fly to Clarksdale regularly for the music, climate and people. They started the night at Red's Blues Club and counted down the new year at Ground Zero Blues Club.
“We come down on vacation whenever we can,” Ed said. “She’s a school teacher for one more year, so we come every vacation — summer, Christmas and spring break.
“I’m down here in Clarksdale for a New Year’s Eve party because of mostly the people and the blues music scene. Here is where it’s the real deal. There’s more fun going on in this town than I can have.”
Being from the northwest, Stauffer said he only heard blues on the radio, but coming to Clarksdale gave him the opportunity to meet musicians such as Lucious Spiller and “Big A” Anthony Sherrod.
“We walked in the door of Red’s, ‘Big A’ was playing on the stage and said, ‘Come on in. You’re safe here,’” Stauffer said. “We’ve been here ever since. That was 12 years ago.”
Sandy said she noticed several Arkansas and Louisiana license plates in Clarksdale.
“People are coming in,” she said. “That’s good.”
Mac Crank, who has spent the past 10 years in Clarksdale with his significant other, Shelley Ricker, working on projects to better the community, will be living in Oklahoma full-time in the near future.
He was at Red’s Blues Club for the New Year’s Eve event on Monday night and said he plans to come back for the new year in the future.
“It’s the only place for this kind of music,” Crank said. “Seven nights a week, why wouldn’t you come back? There’s nothing like a party at Red’s.”
