1. "LIVE" BLUES THIS WEEK (and beyond)...

Our "Live Music" page has just been updated - including new gigs at the
Long Shot in Oxford: http://www.cathead.biz/livemusic.html

PLUS... Sunflower River Blues Association meeting at the Delta Blues
Museum, 6 pm Wednesday, August 20 (TODAY!).

2. SPECIAL EVENTS TO NOTE... (there is so much going on... all are
also on web site)

- Wed., 8/20 (TONIGHT!!!) - Ground Zero Blues Club, Clarksdale, MS (0
Blues Alley, 662-621-9009): Howl-N-Madd's Big Birthday Bash, starring
The Perry's from Oxford, Mississippi. Special guests Charles Wilson,
Robert Tillman, Nathaniel Kimble, Lee "Shot" Williams, Mystery Man, Seba
Potts Wright and Pat Brown. Going forward, The Perry's will play every
Wednesday at Ground Zero. $5 at the door.

- Sat., 8/23 - Blues on the Bluff, Part 2, Memphis, TN: Fat Possum
recording artist Robert "Wolfman" Belfour.

- Sat., 8/23 - Memphis Tri-State Blues Festival, Southhaven, MS (Desoto
Civic Center): Starring Tyrone Davis, Marvin Sease, Bobby Rush,
Latimore, Willie Clayton, Floyd Taylor, Sir Charles Jones. Tickets:
Ticketmasker locations, Boss Ugly Bob's and Just Beepers locations.
901-525-1515.

- Fri.-Sat., Aug 29-30 - Othar Turner Memorial Picnic, Senatobia, MS:
Great blues and fife music, featuring the Otha Turner family and
friends. Delicious BBQ goat sandwiches, homemade fifes for sale and
more. Music starts in afternoon and goes late into the night! Details to
come.

- Fri., 8/29 - Howlin' Wolf Blues Festival, West Point, MS: Excellent
event. Featured acts will include Willie King and Bobby Rush. For
details: http://www.wpnet.org. Hotline: 662-494-2921. Also:
http://www.dailytimesleader.com/articles/2003/07/14/news/news05.txt

- Sat., 8/30, 1pm - Willie Clayton Homecoming, Indianola, MS
(Stephenville Community Park, 662-887-9915): Starring The Mystery Man,
Bobby Rush, Marvin Sease and Willie Clayton!

- Sat., 9/6 - Martin's Lounge in Jackson, MS: Paul "Wine" Jones of
Belzoni. Jackson's Hypnotic Chickens open the show.

- 9/9-9/20 - Delta Blues Festival in Greenville, MS. Advance Tickets on
sale thru Sept. 19! Locations to be announced - Cost: $10. Sept. 9-10:
Arts In Education: 'Blues In Schools' for Area Students. For More
Information, Contact: Deloris Franklin (662) 335-3523. Sept.18: Media
VIP Reception, Time: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Location: M.A.C.E. in the
M.A.C.E. Atrium. Sept. 18: Jazz Tribute Concert Featuring Marie Rene'
Sponsored by the Greenville Arts Council and the Delta Symphony
Association Location: E.E. Bass Auditorium For More Information, Call
(662)332-2246. Sept. 19:
Little Wynn Nelson Street Festival Time: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Location:
Greenville, Mississippi Call M.A.C.E. For More Information. Sept. 20:
26th Annual Mississippi Delta Blues Festival 'The Original'
Time: 12 Noon to 9 p.m. Cost: Gate Tickets $20.00, Backstage Passes
$100.00.

- Sat., 9/27 - 3rd Annual Exile on Sunflower Festival, Clarksdale, MS
(Gazebo on Sunflower Ave.): Super Chikan, Mr. Tater and more!
662-627-5514.

- Sat, 10/4, 8pm - Cotton Capitol Blues Festival, Greenwood, MS
(Greenwood Civic Center): Starring Marvin Sease, Denise LaSalle, Floyd
Taylor, Latimore and Wilson Meadows. Tickets $17 and $22 (available at
Malauf Record Shop, Umojo and other places).

- Thurs.-Sun., 10/9-12 - Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale, MS
(252 Delta Ave., downtown; 662-624-5992; www.cathead.biz): Special
events in-store to celebrate King Biscuit weekend... Including Cat
Head's Mini Blues Fest II on Sunday, 10/12 from 9:30am-3pm. Details to
come!

- Thurs.-Sat., 10/9-11- King Biscuit Blues Festival, Helena, AR: Three
great stages plus vendors and music on Cherry Street. Acts include
Robert Lockwood Jr., Sam Carr, Precious Bryant, Otis Rush, Charlie
Musselwhite, Louisiana Red, The Fieldstones, CeDell Davis and many
more! Complete line-up at www.cathead.biz. FREE, FREE, FREE. (NOTE:
Their official web site is down and most hotels are full. See the
related story below to remedy this situation...)

- Sun., 10/12 - Hopson Commissary, Clarksdale, MS: Annual Pinetop
Perkins Homecoming in the afternoon/evening. Details to come.

- Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 9-11 - Tennessee Williams Festival, Clarksdale, MS:
Discussions, plays, walking tours, interpretations, music, varied
cuisine and more highlight this literary festival honoring Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright, and Mississippi native Tennessee Williams.
Various sites. Mailing P.O. Box 1565, Clarksdale, MS 38614; Phone
662.627.7337, Fax 662.627.1313, Toll-Free 1.800.626.3764; Contact Tana
Vassel or Kappi Allen.

- Oct. 17-26 - Ground Zero Blues Club (and surrounding area),
Clarksdale, MS: "Journey to Clarksdale"10-day blues event. Filmed on
Location Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi... Journey to
Clarksdale is a pilgrimage to the crossroads of the Mississippi Delta,
the birthplace of the blues. This ten-day concert series will celebrate
and capture the music and culture that has influenced and given heart
and soul to the music of the modern world. For more information today...
Jef Judin (601)209-3093. www.journeytoclarksdale. Details to come....

3. SONNY BOY 2003 BATTLE OF THE BANDS...

This from Rosie Swan, Office Manager for the King Biscuit Blues Festival:
The Sonny Boy Blues Society is holding their 2003 Battle of the Blues
Bands. The Battle is set for September 12th & 13th, 2003. The winner of
the Battle will open the King Biscuit Blues Festival and represent SBBS
in Memphis at the 2004 International Blues Challenge. All Blues Bands
and Soloists are invited to apply and participate. Please call Rosie at
870-338-8798 for more information.

4. CAT HEAD DELTA BLUES & FOLK ART...

- New visual media:

- JUST IN! Scott Jennison's brand new Origin Films Otha Turner
documentary video, "King of the Fife: A Tribute to Otha Turner." Debuted
at the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival two weeks ago, it is now
available on VHS for $20 plus s/h. This beautiful tribute features Otha
talking history, making fifes, hosting his picnic and playing blues.
Actor Morgan Freeman does the introduction and the North MS Allstars'
Luther Dickenson is interviewed and shown playing. Super hard to find...
and available in limited quantity.

- We have also restocked on the popular "Deep Blues" and "Gospel
According to Al Green" DVDs as well as Son House/Bukka White on DVD and
video. Still in stock on the Muddy Water's DVD/video documentary "Can't
Be Satisfied."

- New CDs: We have re-stocked after the big festival the other week.
Great new stuff and all the classics. Email me if you are looking for
something.

- New artwork: We still have Butch Anthony's super cool metal furniture
made from woven license plates and cast off metal. Priced to sell
between $120 and $200. Also, did I mention Amos Russell's amazing
cotton farm diorama last week? Enclosed in a homemade, museum-style
lighted case, Amos' artwork includes a circa 1940 field with workers,
two shacks, two outhouses, a wagon, etc. It must have taken him
"forever" to make it. $350 (Sorry, this piece cannot be shipped by
mail.)

- New books: Harris Barnes' beautiful coffee table history, "Cotton" is
now in stock and signed. Also, we still have a few copies of the new
Robert Johnson book. Real nice.

5. OTHER LOCAL MUSIC/ARTS NEWS...

From Clarksdale Press Register:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Theft raises the ire of museum officials
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Delta Blues Museum officials are fuming this week after learning that
the son of a prominent author and university professor snatched portions
of an exhibit in 2001.
(By EMILY Le COZ - Staff Writer)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10019094&BRD=2038&PAG
=461&dept_id=
230617

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* State sues man over failed concert
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Jeffrey Hobgood, the owner of the city and county's former
garbage-hauling company J. Ryan Corp., is in trouble with the state
attorney general's office.
(By JAMES JENNINGS)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10025743&BRD=2038&PAG
=461&dept_id=
230617

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Bus tours could bolster local economy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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In a climate of store closings and population decline, some businesses
see their salvation riding into town on a tour bus.
(By EMILY Le COZ)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10031025&BRD=2038&PAG
=461&dept_id=
230617

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Bikes and Blues rally to keep its original date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Crossroads Bikes and Blues will keep its original date - March 26-27.
(By EMILY Le COZ - Staff Writer)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10037869&BRD=2038&PAG
=461&dept_id=
230617

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* Museum seeks funding to catalog inventory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Like a library without a card catalog, the Delta Blues Museum has
hundreds of artifacts but no current inventory to track them.
(By EMILY Le COZ - Staff Writer)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10037895&BRD=2038&PAG
=461&dept_id=
230617

6. MOTOR COACH TOURISM DISCUSSION...

Just a reminder that this meeting is THIS Friday, August 22. See the
related Press Register story link above. Contact Tommy Polk with
questions at 662-627-6074 or tommypolk@hotmail.com.

7. MORE NEWS FROM GREENWOOD COMMONWEALTH...

Thanks to Cat Head customer Lee for sharing this:
www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10021324&BRD=1838&PAG=
461&dept_id=104621&
rfi=6

8. WWW.GONERRECORDS.COM LIKES BIG GEORGE...

Excerpt from Goner's festival review: "Clarksdale's SUNFLOWER BLUES
FESTIVAL last weekend was a blast and a half- and I didn't even catch
that many acts! After Saturday's full day of bluesin' & eatin, which
included a book signing by Andria Lisle and the funky folky art of Butch
Anthony of Seale, Alabama, we headed over to Jacqueline's Club for some
blues from Big George Brock and his band from up near St Louis. Big
George looked great in his pink suit and pink hat- his large female
singer wore pink as well, and the band was dressed down in regular
clothes. The singer as pimp look always works. We weren't ready for the
onslaught to come- FURIOUS Muddy Waters-styled blues stomping with out
any of the festival grandstanding that you'd expect. None! Rave-ups like
"Here 'Tis" were blisteringly fast, and the slow songs just kind of
oozed along, tough.

It was the closest thing to seeing Muddy Waters in his heyday that I'll
ever get to see- this is what all those limey bluesniks wanted to be in
the 60s- and Big George's band played all the same songs the Yardbirds
did! Incredible. I just kept looking at folks who should know, like
ex-Living Blues editor Scott Baretta or Oxford, MS know-it-all Robert
Freeland, and we'd just nod, mouths open, or shake our heads in
disbelief. It just doesn't seem possible that a band today could be that
good, that could put everything I like about the blues together in one
package and just kick ass.

For the final song, which I knew but can't remember now, Big George put
down his harmonica and took over bass playing duties from his excellent
female bassist, slopped all over the place with his singing and playing,
and eventually ended up rolling on the ground still playing- of course
after his handler had taken off George's jacket! Incredible. We went
nuts. See him if you can- he's in his 70s now."

9. ALSO, "GONER RECORDS" GUIDE TO MEMPHIS...

www.goner-records.com/index/memphis/memphis.html

10. JIMBO MATHUS ARTICLE...

Here is an interview of Jimbo - one of Clarksdale's favorites - in this
month's Guitar Player Magazine.
http://www.guitarplayer.com/0903_IO2.htm

11. KING BISCUIT BLUES FEST WEB SITE PROBLEMS...

The folks at October's wonderful King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena,
AR are having some problems with their web site. Since it is currently
unavailable (and potential attendees keep asking me about the line-up),
here's a temporary solution. Go to my store web site at www.cathead.biz
and click on the "Live Music" button to the far upper left of the
homepage. Scroll down and you will see their last published line-up.

The other question I'm getting a lot is "where can I stay?" since most
Helena and surrounding hotels/B&Bs are already filled up. Here is my
standard list of FESTIVAL ACCOMMODATIONS. At this point, many
may be
booked up, but cancellations do occur.
In nearby Clarksdale, MS:
- The Belle-Clark B&B, 662-627-1280 or 662-627-3069
- Riverside Hotel, 662-624-9163
- Delta R&B (coming soon), 662-627-9025
- Shack-up Inn at Hopson, 662-624-8329
- Comfort Inn, 662-627-5122
- Hampton Inn, 662-627-9292
- Econolodge, 662-621-1110
- Southern Inn, 662-624-6558
- Plantation Inn, 662-624-6541
- Uptown Inn, 662-627-3251
- Hick's Hotel, 662-624-9900
- Days Inn, CLOSED
Also:
- Uncle Henry's (at Moon Lake), 662-337-2757
- Isle of Capri (in MS across from Helena, AR), 662-337-0027 or
662-363-2250
- Magnolia House B&B in Helena, AR, 870-222-6425
- Rooms may be available in Tunica (www.tunicachamber.com) or Cleveland,
MS (www.clevelandmschamber.com).
For camping:
- Expo Center on Hwy. 61 in Clarksdale, 1-800-626-3764
(Tourism/Chamber), RV camping available (hook-ups, etc.).
- Hopson/Shack-up Inn, 662-624-8329, RV and tent camping on grounds - NO
hook ups (call first)

FINALLY, there will be plenty of related stuff going on in Clarksdale
that week(end):
- My store Cat Head will have a few things happening that
Friday/Saturday and a cool Mini Blues Fest on Sunday morning/early
afternoon featuring both acoustic and electric blues acts... and
homemade BBQ. Details to come.
- Hopson Commissary will be hosting its annual Pinetop Perkins
Homecoming that Sunday afternoon/evening.
- Minimally, there will be "live" blues that Thursday at Sarah's Kitchen
and that Friday/Saturday at Ground Zero Blues Club.
- The new Clarksdale Visitor's Center will be running shuttles back and
forth to the festival for a reasonable fee that includes coupons for
area businesses, etc. (662) 645-8874.
- The Delta Blues Museum, Dela's Stackhouse, Bluestown Music, Studio 61,
Abe's BBQ and other great C'dale businesses will be open.

12. CAT HEAD CUSTOMER NEEDS YOUR HELP...

Mariah emailed this request for assistance:
"We met a couple at the Sunflower River Blues Festival who i kept
promising to give my email address to and each time we met (several
times a day) i had my belly pack on instead of my pocketbook which had
personal cards with my number and email on it. So now how do i reach
them how do i give them my email so that they can forward all the pics
they took. They have been coming to your festival for many years i
forget how many they said but maybe you would be so kind as to put
this in your next newsletter and help me locate them

Ron and Debbie (AKA Emmie lol inside joke)
contact Mariah at sensualwordz@aol.com

thank you"

13. "BLUES WAX" REPORTS A SAD PASSING...

- According to last week's Blues Wax e-letter, Shirli Dixon-Nelson
passed away Friday August 8 of an aneurysm. Ms. Dixon-Nelson, daughter
of the late Bluesman Willie Dixon, could sing the Blues, but her most
important role was as executive director of the Blues Heaven Foundation,
a non-profit organization Dixon started to support budding Blues artists
and to encourage Blues artists to hold onto and protect their
copyrights. She was forty.

For more on Blues Was, go to www.visnat.com/entry/visionation.html

14. BARRY BAYES SHARES BIG T'S SET...

C'dale's Big T always tears it up. Here a sample set...

8-9-03 Terry "Big T" Williams set
0:00 #1 Stoop Down Baby - A
8:10 #2 Catfish Blues - E
12:55 #3 I'll Play The Blues For You - G
19:00 #4 Woke Up this Morning - A
21:30 #5 Mannish Boy - E
27:40 #6 Just My Imagination - C
30:55 #7 Sweet Home Chicago - E
34:40 #8 Black Night - G

15. EXCERPT FROM ACROSS THE BORDER IN ALABAM...

We are very excited that so many good things are happening for
award-winning Alabama bluesman WILLIE KING, who is getting some of the
attention he has so long deserved. He will be appearing nationwide on
PBS as part of Martin Scorsese's film Feel Like Going Home to be aired
September 28th 2003. This film is the first of seven movies made by
different directors celebrating the first official Year of the Blues.
Early this year a film crew came to shoot Willie King and his band The
Liberators at Betty's Place, a small rural juke joint in Noxubee County,
Mississippi, just over the state line from Willie's home in Pickens
County, Alabama. One of his songs recorded at that session, Terrorized,
received a W. C. Handy nomination for Best Blues Song of the Year, and
is to be included in the series discography to be released on CD later
this year.

Although Willie King mostly plays in and around his home in Pickens
County, Alabama, he is gaining an international reputation for his
vibrant boogie juke joint blues and the power of his message. This year
he has again won the Living Blues Magazine Blues Artist of the Year, and
his latest album Living In A New World received W. C. Handy nominations
for Traditional Blues Album of the Year and Blues Song of the Year.

Rick Asherson
Alabama Blues Project
www.alabamablues.org

16. GO FISHING WITH MUSIC MAKER BLUES...

Got some spare cash and want to go deep sea fishing in Costa Rica with
Taj Mahal and others... AND support a good cause? Go to
www.musicmaker.org/tajtourney2.html and become one of just 28 lucky
folks to make the journey. (Or... Better yet. If you have the cash
and can't make it yourself, email me. I'll rearrange my busy
schedule...)

17. WATCH FOR "BLUES BREAKS" ON MS ETV...

Per Steve "Blues Traveling" Cheseborough:
Mississippi ETV is airing "Blues Breaks" Sept 28-Oct 4, during the
national PBS "The Blues" series. Blues Breaks are one-minute films on
Mississippi blues topics. They'll air in this state of course, also in
neighboring states and on any other PBS stations nationally that choose
to to pick them up. Also, Mississippi ETV will show many other
blues-related films from its vaults that week. It will kind of be the
climax of the national "Year of the Blues."

-------------

THANKS!