Page 63 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2012

These men are both performers and club owners, and are sure to
have lots of stories and advice.
The Delta Blues Museum’s Arts and Education Program strives to
continue the great musical tradition born in the Mississippi Delta: the
Delta blues. Through the program, students are taught to play the blues
on instruments of their choice. Instruments such as drums, guitars and
keyboards are provided by the museum for use in the classroom and
authorized performances. Instructors utilize oral tradition, recorded
music, video, instruction books and handouts to educate the students
in a classroom environment. The students progress from learning the
basics of playing music, to working together as a band. Last year,
the Delta Blues Museum Band recorded a CD, From Clarksdale to
Arts and Education Program students and their teachers, Richard “Daddy Rich” Crisman
and Bill “Howlin’ Madd” Perry, at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS Kansas City, Vol. 1. Volume 2 is currently in the making, featuring
special guests such as Kenny Brown and others.
Segments on Son House, Muddy Waters and Charlie Musselwhite For teachers, the museum offers a Traveling Trunk, an
are currently available, and features on Clarksdale and Robert interdisciplinary and interactive educational supplement that
Johnson are in the works. includes a map of the railroad from New Orleans to Chicago, a
The museum also sponsors special educational programs and guitar, a diddley bo, exhibit panels and lesson plans. The “trunk”
workshops in conjunction with local festivals and events. In the is currently at Ben Franklin Middle School in Valparaiso, Indiana.
past, these have included sessions such as piano workshops with
Henry Gray, harmonica workshops with Geneva Red, and oral Shelley Ritter is the Delta Blues Museum director and can be reached
history conversations with David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Charlie at shelley@deltabluesmuseum.org. Fundraising is ongoing for new
Musselwhite and others. Check the website’s calendar or sign up exhibits and programs. Tax deductible donations can be made to the
for the museum’s quarterly newsletter for notices about these special museum via the Delta Blues Foundation, P.O. Box 940, Clarksdale,
programs. For this year’s Juke Joint Festival, the museum will offer MS 38614. You can also become a museum member and enjoy many
“Conversations with Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes and Big George Brock.” benefits. Find more information online at www.deltabluesmuseum.org.

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