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Living Blues Symposium Set for
February 26–27, 2009

Focused on documenting the blues, the Living Blues Symposium includes dedication of the Living Blues Trail Marker by the Mississippi Blues Commission, an address by David Evans as the Early Wright keynote speaker, a sampling of some recently digitized Alan Lomax Recordings from the University’s Blues Archive, and a jam session with the audience. A special edition of Thacker Mountain Radio and a Highway 61 Radio / Southern Foodways Alliance reception also are planned.

“We will also have a field recording panel discussion with George Mitchell and University of Georgia art professor Art Rosenbaum,” said Mark Camarigg, Living Blues publications manager. “Mitchell was the first to record R. L. Burnside in 1967, and Rosenbaum just received two Grammy nominations for his recent box set, Art of Field Recording, Volume I: 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum.”

The symposium culminates February 27 with an 8 p.m. performance by soul and gospel singer Mavis Staples at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. From her early days of sharing lead vocals with her groundbreaking family gospel group, The Staple Singers, to her storied solo recordings, Staples has been an inspirational force in modern popular culture and music.

Symposium sessions are free and open to the public except the Staples concert. Tickets to the concert are $24 for general admission and can be purchased by calling 662-915-2787.

“On Friday, February 27, Living Blues and the Blues Archive will receive a Blues Trail Marker from the State of Mississippi Blues Commission. It is the first trail marker in Lafayette County and is sponsored in part by the Oxford Tourism Council,” Camarigg said. The Mississippi Blues Trail features more than 120 historical markers and interpretive sites located throughout the state and will continue to be developed in phases as funding becomes available. Phase 1 of the Trail consisted of nine markers that were funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Greg Johnson, curator of the University’s Blues Archive, will unveil some newly digitized audio and video from the Alan Lomax Archive. “Much of what we know about the history and development of blues music and culture was passed along to us through the research of David Evans, George Mitchell, Alan Lomax, Jim O’Neal, and others,” said Johnson. “We’ll be able to hear stories from the pioneering days of recording previously unheard musicians for scholarly and commercial purposes. We’ll hear how academic and fan-based pursuits of the blues exposed this music to worldwide audiences.”

Symposium sessions are to be held in Barnard Observatory. Sponsors include the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, the Oxford Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, Mississippi Development Authority, the University’s Department of Archives and Special Collections in the J. D. Williams Library, and Austin’s Music.

For more information, call 662-915-5742 or e-mail info@livingblues.com, or go to www.livingblues.com. For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7236.

Rebecca Lauck Cleary