It's 116 degrees today - why am I here?

Yesterday the heat index in Clarksdale was 116 degrees. 116! It was hard to move around and to be honest it was truly miserable. I began to think about what it was that keeps me coming here on my precious time off from work. I mean really, summertime back in Seattle is amazing this time of year. We enjoy being outside and not needing to change our clothes several times a day. I must say that as I reflected on some of the experiences of even the last few days (not to mention countless others from previous visits) it became clear why Clarksdale, MS is truly a home away from home for me.

My dear friends Stan and Dixie Street from the Hambone Gallery, finally persuaded me to leave my little urban camping hovel (aka - The Delta Dipsie Doodle Flophouse) and enjoy a glorious night of sleep, under divine air conditioning with no crickets joining me in bed and a shower with water temperature control. Sometimes it's the simple pleasures in life.

Hambone gallery feature's live music every Tuesday by local and traveling musicians. A great place to get a drink and relax with the new friends you'll surely meet, while enjoy art by Stan and other artists. It's people like Stan and Dixie that make this such a special place. It was just a couple weeks ago that, after jamming at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Stan stopped by my house in Seattle and hung out for several days enjoying our temperate summer climate and throwing back some local seafood like mussels, Dungeness crab and Dukes clam chowder.

Yesterday I also had a chance to hang out with my good friend Randall from Rust restaurant here in Clarksdale. Had an amazing time hanging out with this accomplished chef and artist watching as he created amazing works of art from found objects that would otherwise be garbage. Check out Rust while your in town for some great food and

Today I got to spend some time with Joey Young from Lambfish Gallery in Clarksdale. Joey is an amazingly talented artist and hard working guy who is an art teacher at one of the local schools, and also moonlights at Madidi restaurant. If you look carefully you might see some of Joey's work around town discretely painted on the sides of buildings. The picture of the twister is Joey's work. Huge thanks to Joey for the signs he painted for me, now hanging in the New Roxy.

I met two more new artists in town late last night while they were busy getting a coat of paint on a new gallery space on Delta Ave. There was even a meeting for a new artists cooperative to form in town. Between the many musicians and artists calling Clarksdale home, the creative energy is always evident and inspiring and one of the many reasons that I brave the heat and mosquitoes. I hear it's supposed to be 120 degrees with the heat index tomorrow....

Mobile food carts, trendy on the west coast, tradition in the Delta

Being the 'foodie' that I am, I've blogged in the past about some of the wonderful cuisine that can be found here in Clarksdale including Madidi and Wangz and Thangz. Back on the West Coast mobile food vendors have become quite popular, a trend in Seattle that is a long standing tradition in the Delta. This past week I was pleased to see one of my favorite mobile food vendors, Hot T's Hot Tamales.

Hot's T's isn't new, in fact it's been around so long that it's now operated by the son of the original owner. Oscar Orsby passed the business along to his son Otis, who has taken over providing Tamales, sausages and pork steaks to hungry Clarksdale residents at reasonable prices. The truck pulls up only a few days a week and parks in the usual spot at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Yazoo, close to Messenger's pool hall. The mobile truck has been there so long they have their own meter and electrical outlet mounted on a telephone pole by the corner. I'm not sure what days he's there and there's no twitter updates to know when he will show up - just know that if your in town and see the tamale truck you should stop in and get some.
Tamales in the Delta have a long history and the best place to get more info is at tamaletrail.com.
A project of the Southern Foodways Alliance the sight provides history and locations of tamale purveyors across the south.

Earlier this week, I heard the unmistakable sounds of an ice cream truck. I looked out the window expectantly thinking I just might run out and grab a Popsicle in this record heat only to see a new brightly painted truck driving by advertising Big Momma's on the go. Big Momma's is a favorite take away joint tucked in a residential neighborhood off Anderson Street. Big Momma's is one of the only places open selling breakfast items on Sundays so it's a favorite of mine. I couldn't tell what the truck is for (selling food or making deliveries) but I'm on the lookout for it around town. In fact I think I'll head over and get some breakfast this morning and see what the story is.

Open House

Today was one of those insanely busy days before the festival. All of my friends in town are equally busy getting ready at their various endeavors, which is why I was so especially touched that so many of them took the time to come by and visit the New Roxy while we were all lit up and almost ready for the festival. We had a campfire, broke in the Tiki Shed and practiced serving our 'Roxy Sliders'. I got such great positive feedback that people besides myself think the New Roxy is a pretty special place.

The spirit of community and working together to a common goal is very evident. The folks at Club 2000 offered up some great old bar stools that just need a little freshening up. I made a fabulous trade of my reclaimed recycling bin(made out of these mysterious plastic display racks that were dumped in the back alley.) for a classic old style vintage garbage can and ash tray both of which look fabulously at home in the New Roxy. The folks at the sound studio dropped off a table I can salvage along with providing me hot showers all week.

I spent an hour recording the stories of a family that grew up with owners of the New Roxy and they shared lots of memories and history of the neighborhood including that Ike Turner actually played on the New Roxy stage which I had not heard before.

Visitors started arriving today. Everyone in town get guests during festival and today my good friend 19th St Red and his friend Herve, visiting from France, drove up from New Orleans and Miss Jamie braved tumbleweeds and high winds all the way from Aspen.

I am exhausted and exhilarated at the same time

Tshirts are printed and I can't wait to go pick them up tomorrow morning after my meeting with the health department in hopes of getting a permit to cook in the tiki shed....

Band Needed

As with everyone, sometimes there are good days, better days or flat out bad days. Today was one of the frustrating ones. Five hours spent driving and waiting for information for the Mississippi Tax bureau, locking myself out of the building and realizing that the lights for the 'relighting' of the marquee seem to have mysteriously stopped working. Two steps forward and one step back.

While waiting on Miss Ramona to show up with the spare key I took a moment to walk down and talk to my neighbor, Ms. Shirley Faire. She is the owner of Oooh So Pretty Flowers and Accessories at 393 Issaquena Avenue. She owns several spaces on the corner of Issaquena and MLK Blvd all with a lot of history. Including the location where the Dipsie Doodle juke joint was located that was mentioned by Alan Lomax during his research visit here in the early 1940's.

Ms. Shirley has cleaned out one of her extra spaces next to her flower shop and is looking to for a band to play during Juke Joint. If any band with their own equipment, is looking for a chance to play for tips in a very cool historic part of Clarksdale let me know and I can make the connection for you.

Weekend at Red's w/ Bilbo Walker and TModel Ford

This weekend found me hanging at Red's Juke Joint in Clarksdale. Red's is not like Ground Zero it's the real deal! Located at MLK Blvd. and Sunflower Ave, Red's place is "backed by the River, and fronted by the grave". It's not fancy but the music and atmosphere are as cool as it gets. Sometimes there's something on the grill, but otherwise there's no food just beer and set ups. It's basically like going to a gig in someone's garage where locals and nationwide musicians come to play, dance, and have a great time. Friday there were patrons from all corners of the globe including Toronto, New Zealand, Spain, Memphis, Nashville and Montana.

Friday Robert Bilbo Walker and his band put on a rocking show. Here's a video of Robert Bilbo Walker - CLICK HERE.
As always the decor was changed up a bit since my last time in town. My favorite new addition is a reclining, crushed red velvet chaise lounge. Red looked quite relaxed and a man in charge of his kingdom as he watched the room while stretched out.

Saturday night I stopped in to see legendary T-Model Ford who was playing backed up by his grandson Stud on drums. I noticed Stud looks more grown up since I saw his last and asked Red how old he was now. Red said he celebrated his 12th birthday a couple weeks back...I think Stud has been playing with his Grandfather since he was 7 or 8.
It was also great to see his Grandaughter sit in on drums too -'Little Momma' is ten and did a bang up job.

Red's is just one of the many reasons I just love this place!

Look for T-Model on Saturday night of Juke Joint at Club 2000 - I'll be there working the door until 10 pm.

Wi-Fi, Wangz and Thangz

Clarksdale is definitely alive with activity as the Juke Joint Festival draws near. The streets are being cleaned up and the town is putting on it's best face as tourists from all over the world are already here to enjoy the 7th Annual edition of this event.

What is the Juke Joint Festival? It’s a positive event for everyone in Clarksdale. It’s good for families, businesses, musicians and tourists alike. The festival itself combines an international “blues festival” with a community-minded “small-town fair,” creating a strong and memorable event like no other in the universe. It’s organized by the Clarksdale Downtown Development Association (CDDA) and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers. This “half small-town fair, half blues festival” does more than simply entertain attendees. It aims to educate and enlighten native Deltans and blues tourists alike through a series of performances, exhibits, and presentations involving music, art, storytelling, film, and children’s events. The event mixes visitors with locals and showcases the economic power of cultural tourism, turning average Deltans into ambassadors for the region.

If you're planning on coming down here one of the latest improvements is free public wi-fi. The signal is not all that great but in this town it's a major step forward. The former Greyhound bus station is once again open as a visitor's center and the signal is strong there.

As with most small towns, Clarksdale has had the “Big Box” stores develop on the edge of town creating a new shopping area strung out on what has become the busiest street in town. In every community this move over the past 30 years has decentralized the community and the Downtown has been abandoned by retailers that once helped it thrive.

The old economic model of manufacturing and agriculture has been failing for decades as manufacturing has been exported and agriculture has become more technology driven. Employment bases have dried up.

In 2008, community leaders banded together with the objective of revitalizing their community with their first focus on resurrecting the once vibrant downtown. Clarksdale Revitalization, Inc. was formed as a 501c3 not for profit, and a board was designated with representatives of every sector of the community to identify opportunities and develop strategies to capitalize on them.

They recently went online at www.clarksdalenow.org (thanks to their web page for some of the content on today's post!)

A new economic engine was identified as a point around which the renovation and revitalization could occur … cultural tourism. Clarksdale has been experiencing a growing tourism industry through its cultural offerings, primarily the music. It was determined that this market was ripe for development if approached correctly.

The revitalization program would have to embrace the whole spectrum of tasks involved in reversing the trends of the past including building renovation, infrastructure improvement, amenity development, marketing planning and branding, business development and recruitment.

My Friday night included dinner at a southern style drive through (cars drive up and yell out, "what's cookin") that just happens to be located right next door to the New Roxy. Wangz and Thangz is owned by Luther and he always has great food. Open occasionally you just have to drive by and see what and if he's cooking. He tells me that during Juke Joint festival he'll have ribs and chicken wings. He's started doing breakfast plates on the weekend too.

My dinner was a large portion of perfectly fried cornbreaded catfish, slaw, fries and (of course) two slices of white bread all for $7.00.

Miss Robin's Revelation

So driving back to Clarksdale this afternoon on a beautiful sunny delta day I had a revelation: Now that I have a business license I may actually be able to make some money after all of my adventures (and misadventures) here in the Mississippi Delta. What a concept since up until now this has been a labor of love for me. The possibility of actually getting the New Roxy functioning in some capacity seemed like an impossibility for a long time.

After this economic epiphany I took a few moments to drink in the sights of the Mississippi hill country. Being a native of the Pacific Northwest I know quite a bit about hills but the definition of a hill here in Mississippi is just a little different. Gentle, rolling hills with some of the most beautiful scenery (something that first drew me here) dotted with historical sites and of course a rich tradition of music. Here's a link to a site with some great images and information on the area - CLICK HERE

Being a rather proud feminist it has been somewhat of an experience getting used to being called Miss Robin and likewise using the term for others. It is a comfortable term here in the south and though I still sometimes cringe at being called ma'am or Miss when I'm not in the south, down here it just feels right.

Madidi the Roof and a Tater on a Bike

Things are looking up around the New Roxy these days, my favorite helper and go to guy, Head, was able to complete a small roof structure at the back of the theater. As I mentioned before this is a big improvement for a building that has no roof as it creates a small dry area where we can set up some concessions and were the bands can store their equipment in case we get hit with some of that southern rain during a show. It was a huge moment for me personally to feel we have reached the end of the 'clean out' stage and are moving forward to the 'rebuilding' stage.

Speaking of those concessions I should be in possession of a temporary permit that will allow me to sell some cold beer during the Juke Joint Festival. It took some creativity but it will be well worth the effort to see my friends and neighbors being able to enjoy a cold one (or two) while listening to some hot delta blues. Not to mention just maybe making a dollar or two to cover some expenses.

Spotted Mr. Tater riding a bike around town today, it was nice to see him out and about and I especially enjoyed seeing his bicycle decked out with a lantern style flashlight strapped onto the handlebars with what looked like half a roll of duct tape.

But the highlight of the day would likely have been my trip to Madidi.

Owned by local attorney and businessman Bill Luckett and actor Morgan Freeman, Madidi offers a variety of French technique dishes ranging from Rack of Lamb to Hybrid Bass.

Set in a turn of the century building in downtown Clarksdale - "ground zero" to blues aficionados from around the globe - Madidi's interior walls are decorated with artwork from the Delta's many artists.

Since my last trip to Madidi the food is definitely on the upswing and I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up, The new chef was very gracious and the presentation of the food beautiful. Overall I had a very pleasant experience. Reservations are filling up fast during the festival weekend so call ahead if you want to enjoy dinner or brunch during the festival.

The Temporary Mississippian

Here's another thing I love about Clarksdale....

During the Juke Joint Festival I want to be able to sell some cold beers to those who come to see the show at the New Roxy. Now in Washington state getting a license to sell alcohol (though I've never done it) would entail a trip to Olympia, stacks of paperwork, months of time, a background check and likely a few months worth of my paychecks.

Not in Mississippi. They consider beer under 5% alcohol content to be 'not alcohol'. In order to sell beer here it's pretty much $30 and a background check for a local resident with a business license. A little more complicated for a non resident trying to run a part time business but keep your fingers crossed for me as I head to the state tax office in Senatobia tomorrow.

A classic example of life out of the big city. Today at 4:40 I headed over to the Clarksdale's drivers license department, parked, got out, talked to the clerk at the court house, found out I was in the wrong building, drove to the right building in another part of town, talked to someone there and then drove, to the Social Security office all by 5:00. Try that in Seattle.

Anyway, to wrap up the day I'd like to share some of the local music scene with you. Mr. Tater The Music Maker is an iconic local bluesman from Clarksdale. Usually, I see Tater everyday around town when I'm in here, but I haven't seen him all week. Word about town is that he's now on dialysis for failing kidneys resulting from diabetes. Mr Tater's glowing persona when he is performing is irresistible and I will always remember his sincere words of belief in my vision for the building when everyone else (including myself) was sure I was out of mind. Here's a video that you may enjoy.... CLICK HERE

And a link to his myspace page for even more information.... CLICK HERE

Going Green.... Delta Style

So earlier today I was feeling a bit discouraged because it didn't seem like I was ever going to make any progress on my endless "to do" list here at the DDD (that's the future Delta Dipsie Doodle Flophouse). Things started feeling better after my friend Head showed up.

My friend Head is one of the many great people I've met, that are part of the reason I love it here so much. Clarksdale is filled with so many interesting characters that give this small town such an appeal to out of town visitors.

Head and I now have a master plan to build a little roof over a portion of the back end of the New Roxy. In case you didn't know, the New Roxy has no roof and likely won't for a good while.
The 'mini' roof will provide a small dry area from which we can serve concessions or keep equipment dry.

Now because we're in a small town and I'm a huge believer in recycling. We WON'T be heading over to the local mega hardware store for materials, we'll be making do from the pile of used wood that we salvaged from last year's clean out of the New Roxy and used tin roofing sourced through word of mouth.

It's just another one of the things that I love about the South....some forms of recycling are a way of life here not because it's good for the Earth but because most times it's all that many people can afford. While Head and I won't be winning any Earth Day prizes for our environmentally responsible construction project, I can feel good about getting something done and doing it in a green way.... it helps offset the 'made in China' solar lights I bought at True Value today.

We're Blogging!!

Hello and welcome to my new blog, Dispatches from the Delta. I started this blog because so many of you are either coming to Clarksdale for the Juke Joint Festival or you've been asking me about my many adventures here in delta blues country.

So each day I'll try to provide a little insight into what's going on, what bands I've been seeing, what's happening with The New Roxy or just share some of the many stories and adventures that I just love collecting when I'm here in Clarksdale.

So today turned out to be a beautiful sunny day here in Mississippi after a typical delta thunder and lightening storm passed through last night. My friends from the Pacific Northwest only think that they know what rain is until they experience a southern thunderstorm.

This morning I awoke to the sweet sounds of weed whacker. As the Juke Joint Festival draws closer the town of Clarksdale goes all out to get spiffed up for all the guests that arrive from all over the country (and world). Even the local jail population kicks in as it was prisoners who were weed whacking the sidewalks this morning.

After being awoken by the prisoners (for those that know me you should not be shocked by that phrase) I headed out into Clarksdales infamous morning traffic and got entangled in a Mississippi traffic jam - translation...... I got stuck behind a guy driving a tractor down the street. A not all that uncommon occurance around these parts.

Once the morning errands were out of the way it was off to lunch at the Dutch Oven. The Dutch Oven is a small bakery and cafe located in the historical train station in Clarksdale. Owned and operated by Mennonites, it's probably the healthiest restaurant in town as there is nothing deep fried (a very rare thing here in the South).

Anyway, the town is beginning to buzz as the excitement of the Juke Joint Festival starts to build. I have lots and lots of things to take care of before the big event at The New Roxy not the least of which is to figure out how to sell cold beer during the show.

I'll try to keep you up to date each day and if you're lucky I may even post a photo or two.