A non-virtual music event took place during a scheduled festival weekend in Clarksdale and it was a small start at hosting festivals since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation and Clarksdale five months ago.
The 18th anniversary celebration of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art took place outside the store on Delta Avenue Saturday afternoon. The annual celebration is usually during the weekend of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, which was scheduled for last weekend, but cancelled due to the coronavirus scare.
The Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art still went on as planned. Sean “Bad” Apple, Peggy “Lady Trucker” Hemphill and Artemas all played music for an hour.
Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, estimated 20 to 30 individuals attended the event. Around 10 individuals were present at the same time and 60 individuals were watching the event live streamed on the store’s Facebook page.
“I thought it was perfect, exactly what I wanted,” Stolle said. “I was super pleased because these kind of things, you’re trying to do the right thing. You’re trying to celebrate something, be positive, have some free music and be safe and follow guidelines and look like you’re being safe, too. If we’re going to screen this stuff, we don’t want it to look like we’re not trying to do the right thing. We’re trying to model good behavior. To me, it was successful on all those counts. That’s not an easy thing to do. You have to talk to everybody in advance.”
Stolle said he had not heard about anyone contracting COVID-19 from the event. He said having the celebration was a test to see if he could do similar events in the near future. He added it is a possibility a similar event will take place the weekend the King Biscuit Blues Festival was scheduled in Helena-West Helena, Ark. The festival was scheduled for Oct. 7 to 10, but COVID-19 caused it to be cancelled.
“The challenge of putting on a true festival event that draws in people from outside of town, etc., is that suddenly, you have too many people,” Stolle said. “As much as I love music and culture and people and tourism, I refuse to be involved with anything I think could be hurtful. A lot of our musicians, a lot of our bands are older. Some of them are not as healthy lifestyle people. We don’t ever want to put them in harm’s way. Obviously, every time you do an event, there’s a chance something could go wrong, but if you really plan it out, think it out (it could go well). I did not want this to be too big and it wasn’t. It was exactly perfect.”
Performers had positive things to say during the Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art anniversary celebration.
“This is my dream job to sing in front of Cat Head,” Hemphill said.
“I’m digging Roger. Roger is my boyfriend now, besides my husband. Roger is my sidepiece,” continued Hemphill jokingly.
Then Hemphill provided a more serious message.
“Stay in school,” Hemphill said. “Get your education. You could be a doctor, police (officer) or truck driver.”
Hemphill said she got her nickname “Lady Trucker” from being a truck driver and police officer.
“Stay in school,” she said. “I know it’s hard right now, but do it online.”
Apple praised the event and community.
“That’s what Cat Head and Clarksdale are about,” Apple said. “It’s a sense of community.
“A lot of towns claim to be home of the blues, but I feel like Clarksdale, Miss., has a such a strong, strong case. I really do.”
Apple mentioned how the Crossroads right up street is where blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. He said musician Eddie James “Son” House, who is from Lyon, learned from Johnson and has a plaque on the ground by Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art.
Stolle said the Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art first had musicians play outside of the store during the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival as part of its grand opening 18 years ago. Then it became an annual anniversary celebration.
“Eighteen years in, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs through the business, through the music, through the anniversaries every year,” Stolle said. “This year is as special as ever because we’re getting to have our friends all around the US and the world tune in live via the Internet, as well as we’ve got a few tourists and locals out front, a lot of musicians who dropped by. We’re very happy. Hopefully, the band didn’t melt out there is the heat.”
Big George Brock, T-Model Ford and Terry Harmonica Bean were some of the musicians to play at the grand opening. The celebration has changed through the years, but this was the first time it was not during the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival weekend.
“The truth is you would have 30 people out here a year ago,” Stolle said. “Online, we’ve got 60 people. In some ways, it’s twice as big as normal, but, of course, the musicians don’t see as much money, I don’t get as many sales. There’s all those kind of things. The restaurants don’t get people. The tourism benefits of doing something like this now virtually is that we’re trying to remind people come back when you can. See us next year.”
