After a long 14 hour trip, the ten members , plus myself as Host, of the inaugural PBSFM/Passport Travel US Music Tour arrived at LAX airport, Los Angeles on Thursday, 29/9, strangers, but with a strong music connection. Three weeks & six States later, the Group, many well-seasoned travellers, all agreed it was the most amazing, informative & intense trip they had ever been on. LA, San Francisco, Chicago, St Louis, Nashville, Helena, Memphis, Clarkesdale, Cleveland (Miss.), Greenwood, Indianola, Natchez & New Orleans.
It seemed like we visited just about every Music Museum between LA & New Orleans, including a private Tour of the Grammy Museum in LA with the Curator. Any visit to Nashville must include the Country Music Hall of Fame & the Grand Ole Opry. It was a feast in Memphis with the Stax Soul Museum, WC Handy House on Beale St, Graceland, & the Rock & Soul Museum. Clarkesdale’s Delta Blues Museum, which houses the partly reconstructed shack Muddy Waters lived in at Stoval Plantation. A visit to the site at Stoval was memorable, as was Dockery Plantation. A visit to BB King’s Museum & Delta Interpretive Centre in Indianola was well-timed as it had only been open for two weeks. We were expertly guided by several local Blues Guides down the legendary Hwy 61 South, known as America’s Blues Alley, including THE Blues historian/Robert Johnson Biographer, Steve Levere, what a privilege! Then there were the iconic Studios. RCA’s Studio B in Nashville was a deeply emotional experience, as was Memphis’ Sun Studio and at that famous address, 2120 S. Michigan Ave, Chess Records/Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation in Chicago.
We squeezed in three Music Festivals. The 300,000 attended ‘Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, 5 large stages set up throughout the Park. In three hours we heard Dr John, Bela Fleck & The Blind Boys of Alabama. A quick trip into Arkansas for the last day of the legendary King Biscuit Festival in Helena, where we said G’day to young Texan Guitarist, Hamilton Loomis, caught a blistering set from Big Bill Morganfield, and local hero, Blind Mississippi Morris.
Settling into three nights in New Orleans, we thoroughly enjoyed two full days at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival (Americans love their BBQ’s), a free event in Lafayette Square. Over the two very hot days, caught intimate performances by South Memphis String Band, Watermelon Slim & Super Chiken,Tab Benoit, Kenny Wayne Shepard, and my absolute favourite, Bettye Lavette. We caught a matinee performance of ‘The Million Dollar Quartet’ at the Apollo Theatre in Chicago, fantastic. It will be touring Australia next year, a must see!
We dined at many legendary music venues, including Lou’s Pier 47 Restaurant & Blues Club on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Fran, House of Blues & Buddy Guy’s Legends Club (and Buddy was in the house, we all said hi) in Chicago, B.B.’s Jazz, Blues & Soup Club in St Louis and BB King’s Blues Club on Beale St, Memphis, and Club Ebony in Indianola, Miss., now owned by Mr King. Lunch at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Juke Joint in Clarkesdale, where punters have grafitteed/written over every inch of the walls, chairs & tables and even the stage.
The Group thoroughly enjoyed a memorable visit to the home of legendary Chicago Blues Harp player, Corky Siegel & his wife Holly, (Corky is a long-time performer member of PBSFM’s Roots of Rhythm), where the Boss of the world renowned Blues Label, Alligator Records, Bruce Iglaur, popped in for a chat with the group. He & Corky swapped stories of forty years of Chicago Blues history. Magic!
We were invited to one of the last remaining authentic Juke Joints in the South, Po Monkey’s, just outside of Merigold, Miss. We were told if Po is in the mood, he entertains the punters with several costume changes throughout the evening, beautifully tailored colourful suits, and some rather risqué outfits. He was in fine form, even invited Norm from our group into his bedroom to view his wardrobe and smoke a fine Cuban cigar!!
This was definitely one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences, one for the bucket list.
Check www.uniquepassport.com for details of the next Tour scheduled for Sept/Oct 2013. Presented by PBSFM & Passport Travel
Helen Jennings
Roots of Rhythm
