Delta Blues Press Release

April 10, 2020

DELTA BLUES MUSEUM TO OFFER NEW VIRTUAL TOUR

Clarksdale, Mississippi

Mississippi's First Music Museum focusing on Muddy Waters' life in free online tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Clarksdale, Mississippi - April 10, 2020] - -- Delta Blues Museum Director Shelley Ritter is announcing plans for a forthcoming "virtual tour" of the Museum, in response to its temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the 41-year-old music museum continues to celebrate "Muddy Waters Month" online throughout the month of April, Delta Blues Museum will offer a web-based "tour" focusing on the life and music of McKinley Morganfield--better known as Blues legend Muddy Waters. The online tour will be made available to the public for free later this month on the Museum's website. In lieu of a tour admission fee, guests are welcome to make a donation to the Museum in support. Visitors may access the tour by using this link: Muddy Waters Virtual Tour

Produced by Mississippi filmmaker Joe York, the video tour draws upon the Museum's existing educational feature, "Follow Muddy," and expands visitors' experience through new visuals of Stovall Farms and an exact reproduction of Alan Lomax's mobile recording studio on display in the Museum's Muddy Waters Addition, where Waters' actual cabin from Stovall Plantation is also a focal point.

Ritter explains that, throughout its history, "Delta Blues Museum has grown bit-by-bit into a stand-alone entity with national and international recognition. This growth has been dependent on the tourism industry, which has taken a tremendous blow due to the global pandemic. Since it is not possible for visitors to come to Clarksdale at this time, we are exploring new ways to bring the Museum to them by connecting our exhibits and online educational features to the actual places where key events occurred," noting that while museums around the world are turning to the Internet to keep their virtual doors open in these uncertain days, only a few are offering online tours at present. Ritter is currently seeking funding to expand Delta Blues Museum's virtual touring into a larger series of videos on a variety of Blues-related subjects and topics.

Museum Board Chairman Jim Herring applauds the innovative effort, adding, "'Necessity is the mother of invention,' and during these times, we are utilizing our resources at hand--the Internet, our exhibits and our cultural heritage resources." As Delta Blues Museum annually attracts around 25,000 visitors from over 40 countries, Herring sees the online tour as a way to grow the Museum's audience internationally as well as domestically, for those music fans who have not yet had the opportunity to visit Clarksdale in person.

About Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield--better known as Muddy Waters--is one of the most powerful forces behind American music today. Muddy was born in the Delta near Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and later moved to Clarksdale, where he worked and lived on Stovall Plantation. The son of a talented bluesman, Muddy taught himself to play bottleneck slide guitar as a teen; a chance recording with Alan Lomax inspired Muddy to become a full-time musician and, ultimately, a blues legend whose electrified sound gave birth to rock-n-roll music.

About Joe York

Joe York is a freelance digital content producer and documentary filmmaker. His most recent feature documentary, Shake 'Em On Down, chronicles the life and music of Hill Country Blues legend Fred McDowell. Joe also produced MPB's "Highway 61" radio show for nearly a decade while employed at the University of Mississippi's Center for Documentary Projects. He lives in Water Valley with his wife and two children.

Museum Director, Shelly Ritter

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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.

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