Delta Blues Advisory

August 5, 2014

2014 Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival Events at Delta Blues Museum

Clarksdale, Mississippi

AUGUST 7 - 10:
Delta Blues Museum Celebrates the 2014 Sunflower Festival

Honoring the legacy of Big Jack Johnson. Museum Main Stage ("Melville Tillis stage") performances from the Delta Blues Museum Band, Latimore, Super Chikan, Jimbo Mathus, Kenny Brown and more--details at SunflowerFest.org

Special Museum hours Thursday through Saturday, open until 6PM; Sunday, open from 1PM - 5PM CURRENT EXHIBITS AT DELTA BLUES MUSEUM -- "27 YEARS OF THE SUNFLOWER BLUES & GOSPEL FESTIVAL"

Festival memorabilia and memories spanning 27 years, featuring a special exhibit on Big Jack Johnson

"IN THE BELLY OF THE BLUES"

Photography exhibit by Terry Abrahamson, held over by popular demand. From the website: "Terry Abrahamson won a Grammy writing songs for Muddy Waters, helped launch the career of George Thorogood, created the first radio commercial ever performed by John Lee Hooker...'In the Belly of the Blues' is (Abrahamson's) book, part of the permanent collection of the Library of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Exhibit sponsored by Wal-Mart, Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors, Shack Up Inn, Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and Friends of the Delta Blues Museum "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN"

New photography exhibit by Delta native Billy Johnson. Johnson's photography exhibit highlights Delta Blues musicians who are now deceased but whose legacies live on through their music, offering a "backstage" glimpse into the lives of these artists.

AUGUST 8:
DELTA BLUES MUSEUM BAND OPENING PERFORMANCE

Student band--a 2014 Finalist for the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award--to kick off the Festival.

On the Museum Main Stage ("Melville Tillis stage"), 5:00PM

More about Delta Blues Museum

strong>Established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board of Trustees and re-organized as a stand-alone museum in 1999, the Delta Blues Museum is Mississippi's oldest music museum and the nation's first museum dedicated to the American art form known as the Blues. A 2013 recipient of the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Services--the nation's highest honor for museum and library service to the community--and a 2014 winner of the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award, the Delta Blues Museum is dedicated to creating a welcoming place where visitors find meaning, value and perspective by exploring the history and heritage of the unique American musical art form, the Blues. The Museum is honored to be a Great River Road Interpretive Center.

or more information on events or programs, please call (662) 627-6820, or visit the Museum web site at www.deltabluesmuseum.org.

i>The "Delta Blues Foundation" is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that supports the work of Delta Blues Museum. All funds solicited through the Delta Blues Foundation are raised to benefit the Delta Blues Museum. On-line tax deductible contributions to the Delta Blues Foundation include the Deeper Roots program and the General Fund (a monetarily unrestricted contribution made to the foundation in support of the museum). Memberships and the Buy a Brick program are funded directly to the Delta Blues Museum and are not considered tax deductible.

strong>Through its DEEPER ROOTS campaign, the museum seeks $1.2 million for new and enhanced exhibits: Expanded exhibits, including those to be housed in the Muddy Waters Addition, will enable the cultural organization to better preserve and display the history and work of blues artists from the Mississippi Delta, and advance the Museum's ability to "tell" stories that inspire and educate future generations about this important American art form.

strong>For online donations or for more information on events or programs, please call (662) 627-6820, or visit the Museum web site at www.deltabluesmuseum.org.

strong>Members of the press may register on the Museum's website to access the press room further information, images and materials.

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Shelly Ritter, Director

This newsletter is supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and, in part, from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

This site is made possible through support from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rock River Foundation.