It doesn’t take long during a visit to Red’s Lounge to realize you’re in a one-of-a-kind setting – a place outside the realm of a normal club, more intimate, more personal.
Located in Clarksdale, Mississippi’s Art and Culture District, the boundary between the stage and the audience seems thinner at Red’s. The many characters that weave together the venues personality become defined and the banter unfolds between friends, family and strangers alike.
As your eyes wander around the room, the characters are diverse.
The ringleader tonight, blues-man Watermelon Slim, singing out a cappella. In the corner, a couple from the Netherlands are sipping on bottled beer, eyes glazed with amazement at the visceral artistry unfolding. Young music lovers from New Orleans are paying at the door, coming in to see if all the rumors back home are true about the notorious venue. The many local musicians pop in and out, gracing the stage for passing songs, before scurrying off to other engagements. But somehow, despite the variety of personalities, many who have never met before tonight, there lingers an atmosphere of belonging, the comfort of a living room and the warmness of community.
Clarksdale is no stranger to the traveling visitor. According to local musicians, it is an every night occurrence, and by the end of the night, everyone is sharing stories of that time they performed in Oslo, Norway, how uncomfortable that couch was in São Paulo, Brazil, and lost love in Reno, Nevada.
So what is special about Red’s? According to Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Red’s is one of the last real juke joints, among the few left in the region. So few, Stolle says, “You can count them on one hand”.
What is a juke joint?
“It’s more like you’ve got a crazy uncle running a house party, but he doesn’t really want you at his house,” Stolle says with a serious and sincere grin. “So he has this other building that he’ll flip the light switch on, and little else, and every weekend have a party.”
Understanding a juke joint is important to understanding Red’s, because that is exactly what Red’s is, a juke joint in the raw.
That’s what Red Paden, the longtime owner and operator, created at the famous blues lounge, according to his son Orlando.
Red Paden died on December 30, 2023. With him went his many memories of blues legends performing for neighbors and tourists alike over the passing years. His vision is to thank for all those years of good times bathed in moody red light.
Roger Stolle says, a juke joint is a very personal place, typically “one man’s vision,” and not usually continued after the loss of that visionary.
So what’s to happen to Red’s now?
Apparently, not much has changed at all. It’s currently being managed by Orlando.
Orlando points out Red’s only closed its doors for a few weeks following the loss of his father and all that is notably different is upgraded bathrooms and a slight change in hours of operation.
“You want the original thing,” said Paden. “That’s what people come from all over the world to see – to see the authenticity of a juke joint.”
Several years ago, Red Paden organized a blues festival.
Taking advantage of the long Labor Day weekend, the Old-Timers Blues Festival, focuses as you may expect, on blues musicians in the late years of life.
Despite his passing, the festival of his design will be held in tribute to the long-time club owner, on Saturday. Hosting blues performances at both Red’s Lounge, and the Martin Luther King Park Stage, located across the street from the venue and built on the banks of the Sunflower River.
With musical talents such as Charlie Musselwhite and Frank ‘Guitar Man’ Rimmer, as well as a barbecue competition boasting a $1,000 dollar first-place prize, Red’s Old-Timers Blues Festival is among the last genuinely authentic blues experiences.
With blues music entering the contemporary sphere, more and more blues music is hosted in state-of-the-art venues, huge festivals, with many thousands in attendance.
With a smaller, more intimate atmosphere, the Old-Timers Blues Festival will be an immersive experience, offering the chance to witness firsthand what bona fide blues music looks like, an experience that is getting harder to find for Mississippians and world travelers alike.
