Blues Today Symposium

2015 Blues Today Symposium – April 9

Since 2003, Living Blues magazine has sponsored the Blues Today Symposium each spring on the University of Mississippi campus.  The Symposium has featured such keynote speakers as Paul Oliver, Samuel Charters, and Bill Ferris as well as intimate musical performances by Honeyboy Edwards, Little Milton, and B.B. King.

The 2015 Blues Today Symposium will be Thursday, April 9, 2015 at the University of Mississippi. The program’s theme, “North Mississippi Hill Country Blues,” will focus on the region’s distinctive blues sound and culture. David Evans, director of the ethnomusicology and regional studies doctoral program of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis, will deliver the keynote address. Evans is a specialist in American folk and popular music, particularly blues, spirituals, gospel, and African American folk music. Additionally, George W. K. Dor, the McDonnell-Barksdale Chair of Ethnomusicology and associate professor of music at the University of Mississippi, will discuss Africanisms in Otha Tuner’s fife and band music.

Other presentations include filmmakers Joe York and Scott Barretta previewing portions of their upcoming documentary feature film on Como, Mississippi’s legendary blues artist Fred McDowell. Greg Johnson, curator for the Blues Archive in the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi, will highlight holdings in the archive, featuring numerous North Mississippi blues musicians.

The Blues Today Symposium is presented by Living Blues magazine and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. The symposium coincides with Clarksdale, Mississippi’s annual Juke Joint Festival (April 10­–12) providing attendees an opportunity to see and hear dozens of musicians from the region.

Schedule of Events

All presentations except for Thacker Mountain Radio will occur in the Faulkner Room of the Department of Archives and Special Collections on the third floor of the J. D. Williams Library.

9:00 a.m.  “Archiving the North Mississippi Blues”
Greg Johnson

10:00 a.m.  Study the South paper presentation: “The Lynching Blues: Robert Johnson’s ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ as Anti- Lynching Performance”
Karlos K. Hill

11:00 a.m. “Exploring Africanisms in Otha Tuner’s Fife and Band Music as Recorded by Alan Lomax”
George W. K. Dor

noon   Lunch on your own

1:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture by David Evans

2:00 p.m.  A Conversation with Malaco Recording Artist Sam Mosley

3:00 p.m.  “Documenting the Life of Mississippi Fred McDowell”
Discussion and Preview with Filmmakers Joe York and Scott Barretta

4:00 p.m. “Contemporary Hill Country Blues Culture”
Alice Pierotti, David Katznelson, Ester Mae Smith

6:00 p.m.  Thacker Mountain Radio program

Oxford Square

All sessions of the symposium are free and open to the public.  Click here for visitor parking information.

For more information, contact Mark Camarigg at mark@livingblues.com.