http://www.steberphoto.com/wetplate daily 0.75 2025-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518610541-6S3LGVBPVEP3PEHFUEPV/ChapelofEase1.jpg Wetplate - Chapel of Ease, St. Helena Island SC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518610541-6S3LGVBPVEP3PEHFUEPV/ChapelofEase1.jpg Wetplate - Chapel of Ease, St. Helena Island SC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518611456-BE6RKX8UYPHVIMZORG11/ChocolateDropsCover-.jpg Wetplate - Carolina Chocolate Drops, Durham NC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518614722-NDDH4C3FLND2RE70GI0H/JohnDeeHollman2.jpg Wetplate - John Dee Holman, Hillsborough NC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518612580-YJP3906F0A3Z62G6NYA9/FiskJubileeSingers1a.jpg Wetplate - Fisk Jubilee Singers, Nashville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518624516-5OY3QXJNK674ETOJS195/Valerie-June005.jpg Wetplate - Valerie June, Humboldt, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518610056-MGITXK5QK5FQZV7146GF/BonaventureCemetaryToned.jpg Wetplate - Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah GA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518622757-B4YAHGF1AZXZBOSJ36DS/PoMonkeysAmbrotype2.jpg Wetplate - Po Monkey's Lounge, Merigold MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518624689-LMMZ8KVG7K1I7LFRKS78/Windsor8.jpg Wetplate - Windsor Plantation Ruins, Port Gibson, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518623790-A7UZHAS8F0TZXNOWWP8O/SheldonChurch5.jpg Wetplate - Cemetery, Sheldon SC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491032958-RK1JD4W36SILJ7WH1Q90/338.2019-7-8+Dockery002.jpg Wetplate - Dockery Farm, where the Mississippi blues was born https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491037482-3CYCV8XLK60YP9LPJXZW/689.2017-3-22+Jeff+WInston003T.jpg Wetplate - 106 year old Jeff Winston, Natchez, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518608472-21H0ACYNNI6MLTCX37K8/2014-5-7-Leo-Bud-Welch002T.jpg Wetplate - Leo "Bud" Welch, Bruce, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518624013-S7VQ7DNVI5GDQI4X0E6B/Trevor-McKenzie.jpg Wetplate - Trevor McKenzie, Boone NC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518616010-X60JTUA5UGVGCLYJV7T7/LittlePoochie3.jpg Wetplate - Little Poochie, Natchez MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518614105-P4145LEQ3N4J1ET3ZSUY/Jimbo-Mathus.jpg Wetplate - Jimbo Mathus, Como, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737503481458-TYGQIXY4PRZA1JCLOI1V/701.2019-10-6+Taj+Mahal001T.jpg Wetplate - Blues musician Taj Mahal, Avalon, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491041138-XG3KGHUV69VQPY1BLGIO/ChocolateDropsWP1.jpg Wetplate - Carolina Chocolate Drops, Durham NC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737489193779-YT3T1DCORVFU91X1DPE6/2021-3-21+Sam+Mosely002T.jpg Wetplate - Sam Mosely, New Albany, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518610119-W9AQ6EFFIAF6TX4BUHKP/BooHanks2.jpg Wetplate - Boo Hanks, Virgilina VA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518623419-RE5R5XT56ZQ03AB3LMCA/LA+Prisoners2.jpg Wetplate - Trusty Prisoners, Ferriday, LA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491034102-TDOFDU20CYEBCHELPURI/642.RobertBelfour2.jpg Wetplate - Robert "Wolfman" Belfour, Clarksdale, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518609212-0JIBQ2Q6QOOSCQJ75BOL/BlindBoyPaxton2.jpg Wetplate - Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton, Boone NC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491034965-ZX57OWBVGJUS3N1J88UE/668.Cyprus+Bayou002T.jpg Wetplate - Cypress trees, Dublin, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518609471-LJS7C2KJGR4VH7JUNVRE/2014-5-10-Duck-Holmes001print.jpg Wetplate - Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, Bentonia MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491035227-4HBZYBNAPSJSWPWG5FVA/667.Little+Joe+Ayers001T.jpg Wetplate - Little Joe Ayers, Holly Springs, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491036209-2RNLETYD89XNL7C56PJG/693.2017-3-22+DrCharlesSmith001.jpg Wetplate - Folk artist Dr. Charles Smith, Hammond, LA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491038203-U5FEGP5HHP8C9ZUCF9QH/690a.16-6-25+Robert+Kimbrough001T.jpg Wetplate - Robert Kimbrough Sr., Waterford, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737490836244-MMLVPFVEDX1PA3MZEZG7/image-asset.jpeg Wetplate - Clay skull with human teeth made by blues musician/folk artist Son Thomas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737491040623-8Z4OS4PMT4HR2OVZNUBU/639.SMSB5cover1.jpg Wetplate - Luther Dickinon, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus and Justin Showah of the South Memphis String Band, Como, MS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518611197-TIFTK5I69WXDMQLTUBBG/ConeyIslandSideshow.jpg Wetplate - Coney Island Sideshows by the Seashore Cast https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518612350-Y460R8IPN0YBNYYRQKOV/HeatherHoliday2.jpg Wetplate - Heather Holiday, Coney Island NY https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518620705-R695T2IL17M9YDWNKATW/Mat+and+Penguin.jpg Wetplate - Seal Boy and Illustrated Penguin, Coney Island NY https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518623290-0DSQJL5G827QKEHSZDNZ/Serpentina-and-wheel.jpg Wetplate - Serpentina, Coney Island NY https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406518622385-V78RTOA4QFH3L8ZKH6ZQ/PalmistsT.jpg Wetplate - Palmists, Coney Island NY http://www.steberphoto.com/wanderlust daily 0.75 2015-05-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575554465-E02UWIRMBJ6LCF245EQB/ThanjavurTemple5T.jpg Wanderlust - Thanjavur Temple, Tamil Nadu, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575554465-E02UWIRMBJ6LCF245EQB/ThanjavurTemple5T.jpg Wanderlust - Thanjavur Temple, Tamil Nadu, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575548234-1TP3FTZE5VOHFXA9LOV2/GoaGaja1T.jpg Wanderlust - Goa Gajah, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575546905-7V5UFBABMM07XPZA8N4K/BasakiTemple1T.jpg Wanderlust - Pura Besakih, Mother Temple, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575554930-ZO7A3JXN5UGH1Q6N9KAR/Sravanabelagola4T.jpg Wanderlust - Shravanabelagola Temple, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575546958-8TUUX47XYZ99G55GROMQ/CockFightT.jpg Wanderlust - Cock fight, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575554087-E9TEZ32DDVIFY346M31G/SnakeCharmer5T.jpg Wanderlust - Snake Charmer, Ft. Kochi, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575546591-NMUN8IKL9KC10SIBX1NY/chettinad3T.jpg Wanderlust - Ox Taxi, Chettinad, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575547407-291HQ8Y6F4DJ3Q1FCNTG/ErinyurTemple1T.jpg Wanderlust - Iraniyur Temple, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575548800-B1AJBNIXSWXMND0MO2MW/Hermitage2.jpg Wanderlust - Gunung Kawi, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575553629-X6LIY78B61EMU7KOD778/madurai6T.jpg Wanderlust - Madurai Temple, Tamil Nadu, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575555023-12EX3WZEQL6OCNCKNJ9O/WomanW-Tree5T.jpg Wanderlust - Periyar preserve, Kerala, India https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575547697-VY8F9EXMNS9Y606J8VDN/FogT.jpg Wanderlust - Temple in fog, Bali, Indonesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575548766-EW0ZLHGHMYGHSJ2HQL0M/IMG_4334T.jpg Wanderlust - Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575549505-HUV5TBFFIZW4GV6G2T18/IMG_4389T.jpg Wanderlust - Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575549657-EX0FD9IHUF2MRCCUYCLF/IMG_4422.jpg Wanderlust - Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575550003-NVYPYUCLSCQ3B1BKO8HA/IMG_4611T.jpg Wanderlust - Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575550436-5C7PS5MWD5OKNGL1K4YU/IMG_4797.jpg Wanderlust - Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575551921-YAR336JOWBCUW89IV92S/IMG_5662.jpg Wanderlust - Agora, Athens, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575550676-DADN50K8EJ83FBOSNG47/IMG_4745.jpg Wanderlust - Oia, Santorini, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575550851-DJ8GUW2HPA2BNFMYCMVE/IMG_5535.jpg Wanderlust - Notre Dame, Paris, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575552916-R0L5VWAF0CFD3TFDL3TS/IMG_6930.jpg Wanderlust - Coliseum, Arles, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575551134-TL79P8VJCKF1Z2GY5S63/IMG_5580.jpg Wanderlust - Parthenon, Athens, Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575551265-EPDZWAQPMNRVCCUAKGQ6/IMG_5586.jpg Wanderlust - Maillot statue, Tuileries, Paris, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575552764-LV1J0GCHXIY6FQT8X2I7/IMG_7071.jpg Wanderlust - Armissan, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575551562-726S969I7GWYAGUFRN2J/IMG_5826.jpg Wanderlust - Paris, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575551832-G920P30G99J75A98DWLX/IMG_6213.jpg Wanderlust - Carcassonne, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575553183-J1EEKXYBQT5YKXHVGD9U/IMG_7255.jpg Wanderlust - Brussels, Belgium https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575553427-TWX5N26UV1U86XNR0GER/IMG_7634.jpg Wanderlust - Edinburgh, Scotland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406575554032-KMPKR3ATHWJNBDSPM0HS/openWindow.jpg Wanderlust - Armissan, France http://www.steberphoto.com/mississippi daily 1.0 2014-10-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412618995892-XVULIPUIEE6LVAATOCOO/bentoniabluestoned.jpg Mississippi - Bentonia Blues Bentonia, MS 1993 A black cat stares out from the front porch of blues singer Jack Owens as he plays his dark and haunting blues with harmonica accompanist Bud Spires. Owens, whose canon of songs comes from the minor-keyed Bentonia tradition made famous by the delta legend Skip James, sings in his signature song, “It must have been the devil that changed that woman’s mind/I’d rather be the devil than to be that woman’s friend.” Songs in the Bentonia tradition are suffused with brooding images of the supernatural. Robert Johnson drew from this tradition in composing his most haunting blues, “Hellhound on my Trail.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412618995892-XVULIPUIEE6LVAATOCOO/bentoniabluestoned.jpg Mississippi - Bentonia Blues Bentonia, MS 1993 A black cat stares out from the front porch of blues singer Jack Owens as he plays his dark and haunting blues with harmonica accompanist Bud Spires. Owens, whose canon of songs comes from the minor-keyed Bentonia tradition made famous by the delta legend Skip James, sings in his signature song, “It must have been the devil that changed that woman’s mind/I’d rather be the devil than to be that woman’s friend.” Songs in the Bentonia tradition are suffused with brooding images of the supernatural. Robert Johnson drew from this tradition in composing his most haunting blues, “Hellhound on my Trail.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619015314-XUJN4UCVA4VZVMZA4REB/mosevinson.jpg Mississippi - Sun Session Man Mose Vinson Memphis, TN 1995 Mose Vinson was one of the last practitioners of genuine barrelhouse blues piano. Originally from Holly Springs Mississippi, Vinson moved to Memphis in 1932 and played jukes and house parties through the 1940’s. In the early 1950’s Vinson worked as a clean-up man at Sun Studios in Memphis. Between recording sessions, Mose would sit at the piano and play “44 Blues” so often he eventually convinced Sam Phillips to record him in 1954. In addition, he also appeared on records by James Cotton, Walter Horton, Joe Hill Louis and others, although his own Sun sides went unreleased for 30 years. Mose’s first full-length CD was finally released in 1997. He spent the last two decades of his life as an ambassador for Memphis Blues, primarily playing educational and cultural festivals associated with the Center for Southern Folklore. Vinson died from diabetes in Memphis in 2002. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412190407998-QF1FCF29AUJCO1TBPEJS/jukin%27-at-thompson-grocery.jpg Mississippi - Jukin' at Thompson Grocery Bobo, MS 1995 The Thompson family ran a general store in the majority African-American town of Bobo for over 40 years. On nights when hometown blues man Robert Walker would show up from his home in Bakersfield, CA, the little shotgun-shack store would be transformed into a rollicking juke joint, often until the pre-dawn hours, in much the same way rural homes and businesses became the social centers of plantation life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Bobo resident Debra Hooks, seen here, worked at the store until it burned in December of 1996. Hooks is a mainstay of the Clarksdale/Bobo area live music scene. "When I hear good music, I've got to get up and dance," says Hooks, "I don't care if I'm the only one dancing, I've got to have my music." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619047920-QQDVS4NKQ3RCZ1PH39QP/davidjohnson.jpg Mississippi - David Johnson Elba, AL 1996 Until his death in 1997, guitarist/harmonica player/folk artist David Johnson played Delta-style slide guitar at his home in Elba, AL on an old Stella guitar. Slide guitar technique is thought to have developed from a rudimentary single string African instrument played by sliding a bone or rock the length of the string. In the American South, a similar child's toy called a "diddley bow" often served as the first musical instrument for aspiring young blues players in the Delta. Mississippi blues artists used the slide as a way to mimic the human voice and have their instrument "talk" back to them in a call-and-response style often associated with the black church. It's use spread throughout the country with players using everything from broken bottle necks to knives to produce the distinctive, ethereal sound of genuine Delta blues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619066353-J4LA1587WQIACTWP33GP/jimmy-and-friend.jpg Mississippi - Jimmy and friend Leland, MS 1995 While local legend Little Bill Wallace plays a slow blues in the style of his friend and contemporary B.B. King, a couple dances on a Sunday night at Boss Hall’s juke joint. The small town of Leland has been produced or been associated with many notable blues men including Son Thomas, Pat Thomas, Jimmy Reed, Willie Foster, Eddie Cusic, Tyrone Davis, Johnny and Edgar Winter and Little Milton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619083772-O2LJNP3S34FHHWSA19W2/b.b.king-at-club-ebony2.jpg Mississippi - B.B. King at Club Ebony Indianola, MS 1994 Not only is B.B. King the most famous living blues man, he is one of the best known music personalities in the world. King came of age in Indianola, MS where he drove a tractor on a cotton plantation, playing gospel and blues on the street corner for tips. He left for Memphis where he became a D.J. for WDIA radio and then began his long and successful recording career. King has taken his blues all over the world and still returns to his home town every June to give a free concert to the folks back home. B.B. is seen here performing at the club Ebony, an Indianola club he as played his entire career and where he met his second wife. King now owns the iconic club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619102549-PZNOWSFOMZXMV63OSWVV/cottontoned.jpg Mississippi - Cotton Shaw, MS 1995 Through his late 70’s, James Burgs still hand-picked most of the cotton he and his wife Elvie grew on their small farm in the central delta. With the introduction of the mechanized cotton picker at Hopson plantation in the 1940’s, the need for mass labor in the Delta dwindled sharply, leading to the greatest internal migration in our nation’s history as blacks moved North in search of economic and social opportunities. By the 1960’s, virtually every cotton farm in the South had gone mechanical, leaving only isolated individuals still farming in the ways of their slave ancestors. By the end of the 20th century there were only a handful of farmers still hand-picking cotton and today there are none, where as, at one time they numbered in the tens of thousands. James Burg said that he and his wife handpicked because that’s the way they came up, they enjoyed working and besides, they got a higher price for “clean” cotton. A season’s cotton harvest of 1-2 500 lb. bales often yielded less than $1,000 for the Burgs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619121942-ADM8L9TPZJEYVX3KOEQ3/baptismiitoned.jpg Mississippi - Baptism II Moon Lake, MS 1997 A group of baptism candidates make their way carefully over loose stones to the edge of Moon Lake, an oxbow of the Mississippi near Lula, MS. Small churches in the Lula/Friars Point area gather in the fall to baptize candidates in the lake just as they have for over one hundred years. The great migration of blacks from the Delta in the 1940’s and 50’s resulted in a dramatic decline in the Delta population, impacting church congregations to the point that many churches were abandoned. Today’s Delta churches now pool their resources to help keep tradition alive. Baptisms are usually attended by members of 3 to 6 different congregations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619138148-A1CWQQSTA2YCAU404PFM/deacon-allen-moore.jpg Mississippi - Deacon Allen Moore Moon Lake, MS 1995 Moore wears the dark, gathered robes of his title as he bows his head in prayer during a baptism service at Moon lake near Friar’s Point, MS. The service is conducted by a group of reverends and deacons from various churches who take turns leading prayers and who individually baptize new members into their respective congregations. The service is underscored by emotional, a cappella singing lead by women in the congregation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619157767-5UER99MCXD7FL437HZR0/baptism-1.jpg Mississippi - Baptism 1 Moon Lake 1994 While most contemporary churches have abandoned river and lake baptisms in favor or indoor baptismal tanks, the rural congregations of the Northwest Delta still gather together on the first Sunday in September to baptise yearly candidates in Moon Lake, just as they have for generations. It is at these baptism ceremonies where one can still hear spirituals sung in a style that predates modern gospel music. Songs are begun spontaneously by women song leaders and the congregation sings the lines as they are introduced in the classic call and response style which is the hallmark of African-American music, from spirituals to work chants to blues and jazz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619178195-XUD8L8FYJD7PQKPXFBL7/tent-revival.jpg Mississippi - Tent Revival, Rehoboth Church of God in Christ Clarksdale, MS 1994 As music and dance reach a crescendo during a summer tent revival service in Clarksdale, MS, a worshipper known as "Mother Brown" is overtaken by the spirit and lies on the ground in ecstatic revelry. Such displays of faith and emotion are common in Pentecostal denominations in the South, where worshippers become overtaken, or baptized, in the Holy Spirit, often engaging in glossalalia, or speaking in tongues, as external evidence of their holy possession. Conversely, many of the church faithful in Mississippi beleive that to devote one's life to playing the blues is to sell your soul to the devil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412190646533-D101QVUJKLUS5MEPSVJH/sundaynightatbosshall%27s.jpg Mississippi - Sunday Night at Boss Hall’s Leland, MS 1995 Music enthusiast Theresa Norals responds to the opening chords of a favorite song during a Sunday night blues jam session of Greenville musicians at a neighboring Leland, MS club. Sunday night is as popular a night for socializing and listening to live blues as Friday and Saturday night in the Delta, with some patrons going straight to the club wearing clothes from Sunday night church services. Although Southern ministers have always preached against attending the devil’s services in juke joints, more than one observer has noted that both gospel and blues share a common origin and each of them seek to give comfort and release from life’s troubles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619209425-982O26HM18T8C2A18HHO/honeyboy1.jpg Mississippi - David "Honeyboy" Edwards Chicago, IL 2008 David “Honeyboy” Edwards life traces the history of the blues like it had been scripted by Hollywood. Born into the world of Jim Crow and sharecropping in Shaw, MS in 1915, Honeyboy used music as an escape from that life. He started hoboing and hustling, learning from older men like Big Joe Williams. In the course of his travels, he met and befriended many luminaries of blues lore including Charlie Patton, Peetie Wheatstraw, and Tommy McClennan. He was with Robert Johnson on that fateful night at Three Forks Store when Johnson was reputedly poisoned by a jealous husband; he later died “barking like a dog.” Edwards recorded for Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress in 1942, and moved to Chicago, where he played with Little Walter and the other legends of the Chess era. Edwards' autobiography of his amazing travels is entitled The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing. The death of Honeyboy in 2011 marked the closing of a chapter in American music as the world lost its last living link to the generation of blues artists who made records before WWII.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619224716-5BJO40KUDH59BVF02PNH/jessie-mae%27s-gun001.jpg Mississippi - Jessie Mae Hemphill Como, MS 1995 Blues guitarist/singer Jessie Mae Hemphill's upbringing was steeped in Mississippi Hill country musical traditions taught to her by her grandfather Sid Hemphill, aunt Rosa Lee Hill, and her extended musical family. Female blues guitarists of Hemphill's generation are rare because of the social strictures and danger associated with the lifestyle. Jessie Mae, however, has always known how to take care of herself in a hostile world. "My mother carried her gun all the time," says Hemphill. "She was a pistol-packing mama so I'm a pistol-packing mama." Jessie Mae fired her mother's pistol for the first time at age nine, gunning for an 18 year old boywhom she thought was her boyfriend as he passed by her house with his 19 year old girlfriend. "I shot at that boy FIVE times. They were RUNNING! He run off and left his hat. She broke the heel off her shoe. And the only thing that saved them was they were going down a hill and I shot into a bank [of ground]," Hemphill says with a laugh. Jessie Mae is also well-versed in folk magic and matters of the spirit realm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619254801-CHCS9KGT0E0MAZOL6OIX/parchman.jpg Mississippi - Parchman Penitentiary work gang Parchman, MS 1996 Parchman Penitentiary is located on 20,0000 acres in the heart of the Delta and since the turn of the century, it has remained one of the most feared institutions in the state. A totally self-contained working farm and miniature city, Parchman is the “county farm” referred to in dozens of blues songs written through the years. William Faulkner called Parchman “destination doom” and author David Oshinsky described it as “the quintessential penal farm, the closest thing to slavery that survived the civil war.” It was in prisons like Parchman that the work chant, a series of rhymed song couplets used to synchronize mass work, survived the longest. The work chant used the African American musical call and response style as it’s base and the song leader’s use of off-color lyrics and spontaneous creativity were archetypes that found widespread use in the blues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619271729-2EDHD9SEZHTL65FLV26P/bird.jpg Mississippi - Bird Stovall, MS 1995 A young girl plays with a dead bird shot by her uncle at their home on the Stovall plantation outside Clarksdale, MS. Blues legend Muddy Waters was living in a cabin a few feet away from this site when he made his first recordings for Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress in 1941. Two years later, Waters moved to Chicago where he made the pivotal Chess recordings that urbanized country blues and laid the foundation for rock and roll. In July of 1949 Muddy sand: "Hello canary bird, this is a letter home/ Well I want you to fly the whole world over/ And find out how my baby been getting along/ Well canary bird when you get to Clarksdale, fly down on second street/ Well you know I don't want you to stop flying/ Until you take the letter out to Stovall for me/ Fly on canary bird fly on." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619301707-727T3P4UROJNBP78FSF3/son-thomas.jpg Mississippi - Son Thomas Leland, MS 1993 A former grave digger and day laborer, James "Sonny Ford" Thomas became internationally known as much for his highly evocative folk art of skulls, corpses and animals as for his talents as a blues artist. In song, Thomas often celebrated "61 Hwy" which runs from Chicago to New Orleans, passing a few hundred feet from the front door of his modest shotgun shack in Leland, MS . Of Thomas' music, William Ferris wrote in his 1978 book Blues From The Delta: "Rural blues men like [Thomas] describe isolation with stark images like an empty room or a highway in the Mississipi countryside." Thomas was known for his wavering, falsetto voice. Thomas sometimes created folk art that was said to possess supernatural powers, like the "gypsy men" which could act as spirit guides. It could be said that all of Thomas' art works, regardless of their actual connection to the spirit world, possessed a haunting, other-worldly quality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619320564-PQ0YSHPWBMXXK61POAA1/storm-splitter.jpg Mississippi - Splitting the Storm Shaw, MS 1998 James Burgs brandishes a double-bladed axe against an approaching winter storm on his central Delta farm. An African-American folk belief dating back to slavery holds that a threatening storm cloud can be “split” by striking an axe in the ground in the storm’s direction. “The old folks used to trust in the Lord and get an axe and go out there where the wind was blowing and stick an axe in the ground,” said Burgs. “Been a many wind storm come by, cloud up, look bad. I take the axe out there and in 15 or 30 minutes, look like it goes around yonder way.” Burgs was one of the few Mississippians who still follows what he calls the “signs of the old people.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619336485-H056ZFWEOCZJ5NGEFWHY/corafluker2.jpg Mississippi - Guitar Evangelist Cora Fluker Marion, MS 1996 Fluker lived at the end of a dirt cul-de-sac outside Meridian, MS surrounded by her children and their families. She built herself a small church with scrap building materials next door to her home where on Sunday, she preached using her guitar to play repeated phrases beneath emotional, spontaneously-created songs that preach the word of God. She was equally adept at the traditional vocal technique she called “moaning” which is sung acappella and mixes heartfelt testifying with a deeply-moving vibrato voicings. This type of singing was common in African-American churches in the South until modern hymns began replacing it starting in the 1940’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619354168-B5XHWW03P2R4KP42QGHR/hellhound.jpg Mississippi - Hellhound Ebenezer, MS 1997   Lonnie Pitchford holds a dog skull found near the porch of a juke house he used to play in as a teenager. Until his death at age 43 in November of 1998, Pitchford was the most masterful interpreter of the music of Robert Johnson. Like Johnson, Pitchford was a shy genius whose musical gifts set him apart from his contemporaries. Pitchford's approach to his music came from his immersion in and understanding of the same rural Mississippi culture that produced other great blues men of the past, a modern rarity considering that most bluesmen of his generation, both black and white, no longer come from the original culture that produced the Blues. Also like Johnson, Pitchford lived his life on a self-destructive path as if being pursued by supernatural forces. In Robert Johnson's most haunting song, "Hellhound on my Trail," he sang "Got to keep moving, got to keep moving/ Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail/ And the day keeps on 'minding me/ There's a Hellhound on my trail, Hellhound on my trail." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619372531-IPI42PARWBIBJOIUUB2V/frank-clark-and-bottle-tree.jpg Mississippi - Frank and Bottle Tree Union Church, MS 2002 Frank Clark stands behind a bottle tree in his front yard in Union Church, MS. Once a common site in the Southern landscape, the bottle tree's origins go back to the 9th century Congo where hand-blown glass was hung on huts and trees as a talisman against evil. The practice consists of removing the foliage from a tree (preferably a cedar because all the branches point heavenward) and placing the tree in the yard of the house. The bare branches are then covered with colorful glass bottles that attract any evil spirit that may be lurking near the house. The spirit becomes mesmerized by the play of sunlight through the colorful glass and becomes trapped inside the bottle. When the wind blows past them, the moans of ensnared spirits can be heard whistling on the breeze. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619392661-44NA0A3LY8LQ9D946ZL5/9-foot-sacks.jpg Mississippi - 9 Foot Sacks Abbeville, MS 1996 Floyd Hollman and Leona pick cotton with traditional 9-foot sacks on Hollman's farm in Abbeville, MS. The introduction of the mechanical cotton picker in the 1940's marked the end of an era in American society. Many African-Americans, no longer needed for large-scale hand-picked cotton farming, left Mississippi in search of opportunity in the North. by the mid-1990's, only a handful of farmers were harvesting cotton in the manner of their slave and sharecropper ancestors. Octagenarian Floyd Hollman owned his own land and still hand-picked at least part of his crop every year to keep his stamina up. "I used to be able to pick over 300 pounds of cotton a day" said Hollman, "But now I can only get about 100 pounds." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619413768-7FQNA5PUN9EVPDB5BN1M/pickjesus.jpg Mississippi - Pick Jesus Marks, MS 1994 A large a module of cotton (actually containing a number of traditional 500 lb. “bales”) sits along hwy. 6 near Marks, MS, waiting to be taken to a nearby cotton gin for processing. Roadside pronouncements such as “Get Right With God,” and “Jesus Saves” have long been a common site along Southern highways. Though seemingly naive exclamations of faith, they are actually appropriate considering the sometimes stark simplicity of fundamentalist religion with it’s emphasis on simple white churches and similarly unadorned religious teachings. The double meaning of painting “Pick Jesus” on a large tomb-like bale of fresh white cotton gives the message an added resonance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619434814-EA1LAVY43O8FKFEWJSQY/pat-thomas-and-art.jpg Mississippi - Pat Thomas Leland, MS 2001 Pat Thomas, son of the late Delta legend James “Son” Thomas, is reflected in a mirror at his home in Leland,MS. Pat is attempting to follow in his father’s footsteps. Like his father, Pat has worked at many jobs including grave digging. He spends his time focusing on his father’s music, singing in the same falsetto voice that made “Son” Thomas internationally known. And like his father, Pat is becoming known for his evocative clay sculptures depicting skulls, animals, and “gypsy men” which, according to Thomas, possess supernatural power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619451363-H7S40QL9OUZM8KYIAAAF/storm.jpg Mississippi - Storm Lake Cormorant, MS 1993 A summer storm bears down on farmer W.C. Miles as he chops weeds on a North Delta plantation in Lake Cormorant, MS. Miles' father Willie Coffee was a musician who learned guitar from Robert Johnson and Son House, playing with them at parties in the North Delta. House made some of his earliest recordings at Clack's store in Lake Cormorant, including the haunting "Death Letter Blues" which began: "Got a letter this morning, how you reckon it read?/ Said 'Hurry, hurry, Gal you love is dead'/ Grabbed up my suitcase, took off down the road/ When I got there, she was laying on the cooling board/ I walked up close, looked down in her face/ Said farewell honey, I'll see you judgement day/ Woke up this morning, just a little 'fore day/ Hugging the pillow where my good gal used to lay." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619468026-55LODS2QM6IKLPIF859W/r.l.burnside2.jpg Mississippi - R.L. Burnside Holly Springs, MS 2004 R.L. Burnside, known as “Rule” in the Mississippi Hill Country where he was born and raised, played a blues guitar style distinctive from his contemporaries in the Delta. Influenced by fife and drum music and the guitar style of Fred McDowell, Burnside’s music had a percussive, driving rhythm that marked the hill country guitar style. Burnside spent most of his life sharecropping and raising a large family, only playing music on the weekends for local parties. In 1967 he made his first recordings for George Mitchell, which put him on the blues festival circuit, but it wasn’t until his 1995 collaboration with noise rocker Jon Spencer, Ass Pocket of Whiskey, that Burnside reached a wide audience with his music. In the last ten years of his life, Burnside became an elder statesman for alternative rock fans as much as those in the blues community, releasing a series of experimental blues re-mix albums and appearing on-stage with the North Mississippi All-Stars at Boneroo. R.L.’s sons are keeping his music alive in true Burnside style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619488074-U0ET3QS36XA0TRT11S17/doll-head.jpg Mississippi - Doll Head Bobo, MS 1995 The head from a child's doll rests between rows of cotton in a field adjacent to a burned-out sharecropper shack in Bobo, MS, a silent symbol of the Delta's haunted past. Although few Mississippi blues artists have ever recorded music that openly protested the harsh living conditions of blacks in the South, a notable exception is J.B. Lenoir from Monticello, MS (1929-1967) . In his recording "Born Dead," Lenoir sings:" Why was I born in Mississippi/Where it's so hard to get ahead?/ Every black child born in Mississippi/ You know that poor child was born dead/When he came into the world/The doctor spanked him the black baby cried/Everybody thought he had life/That's when the black baby died/He will never speak his language/The poor baby he will never speak his mind/The poor child will never know his mind/Why in the world is he so poor?" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619504701-PENRUOLQMADKINQVRONK/otha-turner.jpg Mississippi - Otha Turner Gravel Springs, MS 1997 African fife and drum music was historically at the center of black musical and social culture in the North East Mississippi hill country and other Southern communities dating back to the birth of the nation. But with the passing of time and traditions, master fife player Otha Turner, seen here in his mid 90's, headed one of the last African fife and drum bands in America. Turner taught the music to his grandchildren in the hopes that future generations will perserve one of the oldest known forms of African American folk music. Granddaughter Sharde Thomas leads the family fife and drum band. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619531551-VJL3B5X9JNZVYYPUOBQ8/cag-young.jpg Mississippi - Abe "Cag" Young Senatobia, MS 1993 Drummer Abe "Cag" Young learned drumming as a child by beating on an old gas tank in his front yard. Now in his late 60's, Young was one of a handful of musicians in the Northeast Mississippi hill country that kept alive the centuries-old African fife and drum tradition. His father Lonnie and uncle Ed Young were among the first musicians of this music to be recorded in 1940 and 1957 by folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. Cag Young played for most of his musical career with fife player Otha Turner and other drummers at rural hill country picnics as well as at blues festivals in the US and Europe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619550256-2VRNWE6URPHDL7MVOAHT/junior-kimbrough.jpg Mississippi - Junior Kimbrough Chulahoma, MS 1993 Hill country blues guitarist David "Junior" Kimbrough performs at his juke joint in rural Marshall Co. on a Sunday night in late 1996. Kimbrough last performed in early 1997 when an illness forced him to retire from music. He died in January of 1998. Kimbrough was an innovator who combined the traditional elements of hill country blues, (droning, emphatic rhythms and powerful beats) with his own eclectic musical sensibilites to create a music that redefined hill country guitar style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619570081-P3CT4L59XCUS5X4JE83E/cedricburnside3.jpg Mississippi - Cedric Burnside Potts Camp, MS 2006 Son of drummer Calvin Jackson and grandson of blues legend R.L. Burnside, drummer Cedric Burnside grew up steeped in North Mississippi hill country blues tradition, and began his professional career touring with his grandfather at 13. The younger Burnside has recorded and played with a diverse array of artists including Junior Kimbrough, Kenny Brown, the North Mississippi All-Stars, Burnside Exploration, Bobby Rush and Widespread Panic. In 2006 Burnside appeared in the film "Black Snake Moan" alongside Samuel L. Jackson, whose role was largely inspired by R.L. Burnside. It was around this time that Cedric Burnside teamed up with guitarist Lightnin' Malcolm, releasing their first album "Juke Joint Duo" to wide acclaim. After years of touring with Malcolm, Burnside now leads his own group, "The Cedric Burnside Project," and has branched out as a vocalist and guitarist. Cedric Burnside is regarded as one of the best living blues drummers, continuing the Burnside legacy started by his famous grandfather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619590552-E0KURNLL0ONIVJG6YOE4/otha-moonshine002toned.jpg Mississippi - Moonshine Gravel Springs, MS 1998 A reveler holds up a mason jar of Panola Co. moonshine early in the afternoon of a fife and drum picnic. Mississippi was one of the last states to repeal the national prohibition laws and as the result, rural areas still abound with corn whiskey as locals still have a taste for the homemade liquor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619616390-TD75YNDNQ93UE44UBSX3/gatemouthmoore.jpg Mississippi - Gatemouth Moore Bentonia, MS 1999 The Rev. Gatemouth Moore was born in Topeka Kansas in 1913, but was raised in Memphis. Moore started his professional singing career when he moved from Memphis to Kansas City, MO in 1930, singing for bandleaders Bennie Moten and Walter Barnes. He quickly became a renowned “blues shouter” in the Count Basie-led Midwestern blues scene. He is best known for having penned the songs “Have you ever loved a woman?” (recorded by B.B. King and Charles Brown), “I ain’t mad at you, pretty baby” and “Somebody’s got to go,” and he claims to have been the original Buckwheat on the “Little Rascals”. By 1949, Moore became an ordained minister and devoted the rest of his long life to Gospel music. He was the subject of a 1992 documentary about blues and gospel called “Saturday night, Sunday morning” and a year before his death , he appeared in the Richard Pearce’s “Road to Memphis” as part of the Martin Scorsese blues film series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619637078-34W8Y6A6Q8QSCJQLUK74/po-monkey%27s-dancers.jpg Mississippi - Dancers at Po Monkey's Lounge Merigold, MS Po’ Monkey’s place, located amid cotton fields two miles down a dirt road outside Merigold, MS, is perhaps one of the last old-style country jukes in the Delta. It’s been operated by tractor driver Willie “Po’ Monkey” Seeberry for more than 30 years in a turn-of-the-century sharecropper’s shack where Seeberry lives. The juke packs in customers every Thursday night to dance, drink beer, and eat fish, ribs and pork chop sandwiches prepared by his ex-sister-in-law, Irene Johnson. Just as in the boom days of the Delta, the shack is owned by Seeberry’s white employer who allows him to run the club out of his home for extra money and to provide a social outlet for locals. Po’ Monkeys Lounge draws in whites and blacks throughout the Delta who enjoy partying in the country, listening to good blues and eating good food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619655563-0IZQG56W3R1MS10ZEQ0C/lonnieshields.jpg Mississippi - Lonnie Shields Bobo, MS 1994 Lonnie Shields is among the younger generation of Mississippi blues men keeping the music alive. Originally from West Helena, Arkansas (considered an extension of the Mississippi Delta due to it's musical heritage), Shields has honed his craft and performance style paying his dues in small Mississippi clubs like this country store/juke joint in Bobo, MS. Shields started his career learning from traditional musicians like Big Jack Johnson, Sam Carr and Frank Frost, but he also brings in more modern R&B and soul influences into his music. Like many ambitious young performers before him, Shields has left the South to concentrate on his musical career from his home base in Pennsylvannia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619679765-4G3Q79DU57RO11GTZAJB/smitty%27s-red-top-lounge.jpg Mississippi - Smitty's Red Top Lounge Clarksdale, MS 1998 A woman dances to the blues while local musician John Holmes sits in with the Wesley Jefferson Band at Smitty's in Clarksdale, MS. Smitty's Red Top Lounge is one of the longest surviving juke joints in Clarksdale. Blues performers have always emphasized the sexual lure of their music in performance, often focusing on a single woman in the crowd to taunt and tease. In his book The Land Where the Blues Began, folklorist Alan Lomax describes a scene he observed there in the 1940’s: “The blowsy dancer opened her eyes, flung her arms around the singer’s neck...His fingers ran down to the bottom of the keyboard and the notes spurted up like a crystal fountain. Pressing his powerful body close to one of the young women...The girl gave a squeal of pleasure.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619704355-HFHZGTA8B5LQX3WXT5Z9/willie-king-at-betty%27s-place.jpg Mississippi - Willie King at Betty’s Place Prairie Point, MS 2000 Willie King is a rarity in the Mississippi blues tradition. Born in 1943 in Prairie Point, MS, and raised by grandparents, King struggled to survive in variety of jobs from plowing mules, working in sawmills and working as a traveling salesman. But what makes King’s story different from so many others, is that he took his experience and not only expressed it through his art, but also through social activism, forming the “Rural Members Association” to aid poor rural blacks along the Mississippi and Alabama border and making himself “a field hand turned Field Marshall” in the process. Alongside his band, “The Liberators,” King sings “struggling songs,” expressing the harsh realities of life that many blacks endure while at the same time creating exciting, groove-laced traditional blues that are neither preachy nor overly didactic. “The blues have always been part of me,” says King on his 2002 release, “Living in a New World”. “I live it every day. And it’s about love—sharing, helping each other, caring for one another, thats what the blues life is all about. I’m holding on to the blues life, because I found out that it’s a good life to live. I just want to keep passing it down.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619733653-1LQIEGV5GS8ZV53EMH8E/charlescadillaccaldwell.jpg Mississippi - Charles “Cadillac” Caldwell Coffeeville, MS 1999 Charles Caldwell tunes an ancient hollow-body electric Gibson guitar reflected in the chrome of one of his many Cadillacs at his home in Coffeeville, MS. Caldwell, like the great majority of bluesmen in Mississippi, has spent his life entertaining at local fish fries, jukes and house parties for little or no money, entertaining local audiences with no great aspirations for fame. But it’s musicians like Caldwell in small communities throughout Mississippi that have kept the art form alive while providing entertainment for locals and a modicum of fame for themselves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619743419-A54E9RLVMULP91Z0DV87/t-model-and-jack-daniels.jpg Mississippi - T Model Ford Greenville, MS 2001 T-Model's blues credentials are impeccable; if anything he's over qualified. He was born James Lewis Carter Ford in Forrest, a small community in Scott County, Mississippi. He was plowing a field behind a mule on his family's farm by age eleven, and in his early teens he secured a job at a local sawmill. He excelled and was later recruited by a foreman from a bigger lumber company in the Delta, near Greenville, and eventually got promoted to truck driver. Between that and working in a log camp T-Model was sentenced to ten years on a chain-gang for murder while defending himself after a knife attack in a juke joint. He lucked out and was released after serving two. He says, grinning, "I could really stomp some ass back then, stomp it good. I was a-sure-enough- dangerous man." When asked how many times he'd been to jail, T-Model responded, "I don't know. How many?" He seemed to think it might be a trick question. Upon realizing it wasn't, he answered to the best of his ability. "Every Saturday night there for awhile.” T Model began playing music late in life when an ex-wife gave him an electric guitar before leaving him. It didn’t take him long to develop his own unique style of Mississippi blues. T Model’s music is marked by an infectious good-time groove that he can happily play for hours without break. [from Fatpossum.com] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619759744-MC08K0PPOZQBU5VBJTF4/jack-owens.jpg Mississippi - Jack Owens Bentonia, MS 1995 Born in 1904, bluesman Jack Owens was a musician contemporary with many of the first generation to record although he didn't make his recording debut until late in life. His music consisted primarily of songs made famous by his childhood friend, Skip James. Owens methodically picked out songs such as "Devil Got My Woman" and "Killing Floor Blues" in a minor key while singing in his haunting falsetto. Unlike James, Owens never left the Bentonia area with his music until the last 10 years of his life when he played across America and Europe. He was also a recipient of a National Heritage fellowship award given by the federal government for his work in keeping folk traditions alive. For years afterward until his death, Owens kept the entire $10,000 prize hidden in a pouch under his shirt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619778260-UFNMOTSH865Z8Y336VJR/scott-dunbar-1.jpg Mississippi - Scott Dunbar Woodville, MS 1994 Musician Scott Dunbar sits on his front porch in Woodville, MS, abstracted by the screen of his front door. Dunbar was unique in his development as a blues singer in that most of his musical career was spent entertaining at white gatherings near his Lake Mary home on the Louisiana border rather than at African-American jukes and fish fries. The son of a former slave, Dunbar taught himself music at age 8 on a home-made cigar box fiddle and spent his working life as a fisherman and river guide. Though Dunbar's recorded output was limited, he fills an important niche in the development of the blues with his child-like, falsetto singing and lilting guitar work. Dunbar's only album, "From Lake Mary," originally recorded for the Uruhu/Mazda label in New Orleans, has been re-released on CD by Fat Possum records. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619797408-V449OVRUT4WX4FERTPBA/john-lee-hookertoned.jpg Mississippi - John Lee Hooker Redwood City, CA 1999 Blues legend John Lee Hooker relaxes in his Northern California home in the fall of 1999. Born in the heart of the Delta, Clarksdale, MS, in 1917, Hooker left for Memphis as a teenager and spent seven years in Cincinnati before landing in Detroit in 1943. It was there that Hooker brought his droning, trance-boogie sound to the thriving blues club-scene on Hastings Street. Five years later he recorded his seminal “Boogie Chillen” for Modern records and landed himself a surprise number one hit on the R&B charts. In the ensuing years, Hooker recorded many more songs that defined blues in the post-war era, including “Crawling King Snake,” “In the Mood,” “Dimples,” and “Boom Boom,” among numerous other classics. His career continued gaining speed for the next 5 decades as Hooker recorded with blues and rock stars whose fame rarely outlasted his own increasing legend. 1980 he appeared as himself in the best-known pop-culture blues film of all time, “The Blues Brothers.” Hooker continued releasing critically acclaimed recordings up until 1997. Hooker died of natural causes in California in 2001, leaving a legacy as one of the most enduring legends of American music in the 20th century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1412619815059-BK6BUN94OQ8XBFLKYBQ9/rosettapattonbrown.jpg Mississippi - Rosetta Patton Brown Duncan, MS 1996 Rosetta Patton Brown, the last surviving child of blues legend Charlie Patton, stands in the front yard of her home in Duncan, MS with a copy of the only known photo of her famous father. Patton, a slight man with a booming voice that belied his size, was the first star of the Mississippi country blues, recording dozens of sides for Paramount and Vocalion in the late 20’s and early 30’s. His flamboyant performing style and brilliant guitar technique were precursors to later stars like Jimi Hendrix and the rapid sale of his records, together with those of Blind Lemon Jefferson of Texas, set off a wave of talent searches and recordings of other black artists throughout the South, thereby assuring rural blues’ place in the catalogs of the fledgling music industry. Patton was arguably the most important and influential Mississippi blues man of his time. Rosetta died in Clarksdale, MS Sept. 13th 2014 at age 97. http://www.steberphoto.com/blog daily 0.75 2017-06-05 http://www.steberphoto.com/blog/2014/7/28/stones-in-my-pathway monthly 0.5 2014-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406576291499-03DU4G01MDIPLRNDFIDH/image-asset.jpeg BLOG - STONES IN MY PATHWAY http://www.steberphoto.com/blog/category/Musicians monthly 0.5 http://www.steberphoto.com/blog/category/Blues monthly 0.5 http://www.steberphoto.com/blog/category/Mississippi monthly 0.5 http://www.steberphoto.com/yazoo-county-blues daily 0.75 2017-06-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641676602-3DDPMP1KG3DPCE9ZM7OH/2017-3-16+Cypress+Grove3web.jpg Yazoo County Blues Cypress trees on the Yazoo River on Hwy 49 West in Yazoo City, MS. "I would rather be buried in some cypress grove I would rather be buried in some cypress grove To have some woman, Lord, that I can't control And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay That'll be all right, pretty mama, you gonna need my help someday And the sun goin' down, and you know what your promise means And the sun goin' down, you know what your promise means And what's the matter, baby, I can't see I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave Than to be way up here, honey, treated this a-way And the old people told me, baby, but I never did know The old people told me, baby woman, but I never did know The good book declare you got to reap just what you sow When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold Means you just gettin' ready, honey, for the cypress grove" -Skip James, "Cypress Grove Blues" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641676602-3DDPMP1KG3DPCE9ZM7OH/2017-3-16+Cypress+Grove3web.jpg Yazoo County Blues Cypress trees on the Yazoo River on Hwy 49 West in Yazoo City, MS. "I would rather be buried in some cypress grove I would rather be buried in some cypress grove To have some woman, Lord, that I can't control And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay That'll be all right, pretty mama, you gonna need my help someday And the sun goin' down, and you know what your promise means And the sun goin' down, you know what your promise means And what's the matter, baby, I can't see I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave Than to be way up here, honey, treated this a-way And the old people told me, baby, but I never did know The old people told me, baby woman, but I never did know The good book declare you got to reap just what you sow When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold Means you just gettin' ready, honey, for the cypress grove" -Skip James, "Cypress Grove Blues" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641703379-OQSA91XHV2194NCWKH6D/2017-3-19+Jimmy+Holmes002Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Jimmy "Duck" Holmes with grandson Eric Fox at his Blue Front Cafe started by his own parents in the 1940's in Bentonia, MS, making the Blue Front the oldest continuously-operated juke joint in Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641729664-6Z0LM4QXT0STPPE5K9OR/JackOwensweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Born in 1904, Bentonia blues man Jack Owens plays at the Greenwood Blues Festival in the spring of 1993. Owens was a contemporary of Skip James and carried on the Bentonia style of blues until his death in 1998. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641665465-APZM6LA7PA70OJQHN7A7/1999-2-5+Bud+Spires004Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Harmonica player Bud Spires sits outside a cafe with friends in downtown Bentonia, MS. Spires, son of post-war Chicago blues artist Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, was the long-time harp accompanist to Bentonia blues man Jack Owens, recording and touring extensively together over several decades. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641662241-W37GR6W6ZCPHR55QO8TA/1999-2-5+Bottle+Tree020Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Kids play in the yard of a house trailer with milk jugs hanging in the tree in Bentonia, MS. Vessels of water are traditionally hung in fruit trees as a means of promoting growth and preventing bugs. It is a variation on the ancient African-based folk belief of driving away evil spirits by hanging bottles in trees.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641720239-91TRWPQL9UU5VWHYGTAN/2017-3-20+SonThomasHouse001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues House where James “Son” Thomas lived in Eden, MS before moving to Leland, MS, in the Mississippi Delta where he became a well-known folk art and blues artist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641706936-K7PC14N75Z21UN2XPMR4/2017-3-19+Joann+Jones002Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Joann Jones, sister of blues singer Paul "Wine" Jones, at her home Yazoo City, MS. Joann has sung in local blues bands, plays some guitar, and worked for many years at Malaco Records in Jackson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641678851-SEEOGJ5DJRIXCAVF0UYG/2017-3-16+Vaughn+MS001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues This is the site where 37 yr. old Engineer Casey Jones crashed his locomotive on April 30, 1900, in Vaughn MS on the edge of Yazoo Co., dying instantly and becoming an American folk hero. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641748652-DAVBZACCRC2GSNBLI347/*2014-5-10+BlueFront+Cafe001web.jpg Yazoo County Blues Jimmy "Duck" Holmes in front of his Blue Front Cafe, started by his own parents in the 1940's in Bentonia, MS, making the Blue Front the oldest continuously-operated juke joint in Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641683542-30PQHQICAQ5CL1A7BJ6U/2017-3-17+Woodbine003Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Nehemiah "Skip" James grew up and worked as a bootlegger providing alcohol for the residents at Woodbine Plantation during prohibition. It is believed that he stayed with his mother in this house, just behind the kitchen in the main house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641687665-97CZ4VNMGO8U0GEMM8HG/2017-3-17+Woodbine006aTweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues This mysterious brick ruin on the Woodbine plantation in Bentonia MS is an old work site of an unknown nature. Blues singer Skip James grew up at Woodbine and made bootleg whiskey there, and this site could possibly be related to that operation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641693934-V2HPUK5YEP6O218C29D9/2017-3-18+Kudzu+Field002Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Kudzu field in winter, Yazoo City, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641715830-JRLDKHKC0YXLOXXR4URX/2017-3-20+Mt.+Olivet001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Mt. Olivet cemetery in Satartia, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641725573-ZPFJ6N0STU47ZY96RL5O/2017-3-20+S+Thomas+Clay+002web.jpg Yazoo County Blues Clay from the banks of Tesheva Creek in Eden MS is where Son Thomas collected clay to make his folk art sculptures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496642324957-YSBPB4YQR0F9X7VK9DDS/2017-3-20+Tree%26Wallweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Dead tree and wall in downtown Yazoo City, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641690747-N64JFLMD1Y8CZ4KFIEBX/2017-3-18+Arion+BabyBell001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Blues artist Arion Baby Bell at his home in Yazoo City, MS. Bell's father used to run the famous Peppermint Lounge there. Bell is now one of the few contemporary blues artists now working out of Yazoo Co. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641696676-FJN43NTFCEXTMFJHDJWG/2017-3-18+Root%26Wall002Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Roots hold up a crumbling wall at the back of a store on the lower end of Main St. in downtown Yazoo City, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641709962-DUNAD52UG07QWQMQ81MD/2017-3-19MckinneyWilliam001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Blues artist McKinney “Blues Man” Williams plays in front of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641742007-888D77L7A026Y91RIHNR/2017-3-20+SonThomasHouse002Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues This abandoned and crumbling shack in Eden, MS. is where blues artist Son Thomas recorded part of his popular album "Gateway to the Delta" with harmonica player Walter Liniger in 1987. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641713761-F7K5SDO0Y5FYGOFAO630/2017-3-20+Car+in+Woods001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Abandoned car in the woods behind the house where James “Son” Thomas recorded the album "Gateway to the Delta" in Eden, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641767217-LWD5SMRZALI4NI3TJ79B/BentoniaBluesTonedweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues A black cat stares out from the front porch of blues singer Jack Owens as he plays his dark and haunting blues with harmonica accompanist Bud Spires. Owens, whose canon of songs comes from the minor-keyed Bentonia tradition made famous by the Delta legend Skip James, sings in his signature song, “It must have been the devil that changed that woman’s mind/I’d rather be the devil than to be that woman’s man.” Songs in the Bentonia tradition are suffused with brooding images of the supernatural. Robert Johnson drew from this tradition in composing his most haunting blues, “Hellhound on my Trail.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496646158053-7SSPQ9S3F3Z6MCHF7KIO/1995-10-7+Bentonia+Blues017Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Jacob Stuckey, son of Henry Stuckey, the originator of the Bentonia Blues style, plays at the 1995 Bentonia Blues Festival in Bentonia, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496646138987-HX908ONT713RJQOC9X5B/95-3-4+Jack+Owens001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Born in 1904, Owens was a musician contemporary with many of the first generation to record although he didn’t make his recording debut until late in life. His music consisted primarily of songs made famous by his childhood friend, the legendary Skip James. Owens methodically picked out songs such as “Devil Got My Woman” and “Killing Floor” in a minor key while singing in his haunting falsetto. Unlike James, Owens never left the Bentonia area with his music until the last 10 years of his life when he played across America and Europe. He was also a recipient of a National Heritage fellowship award given by the federal government for his work in keeping folk traditions alive. For years afterward until his death, Owens kept his entire $10,000 prize in a pouch hidden under his shirt.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641755923-05L2RWP51XFBC126QSQX/2014-5-10+Duck+Holmes001web.jpg Yazoo County Blues Jimmy "Duck" Holmes in front of his Blue Front Cafe, started by his own parents in the 1940's in Bentonia, MS, making the Blue Front the oldest continuously-operated juke joint in Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496642315527-3H7FJLLJMG6RP7VCY1ZR/2017-3-19+BlueFrontCafe001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, McKinney “Blues Man” Williams and Arion “Baby” Bell outside the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641627678-F0MR4ZRNHXQ95539UA3H/1995-10-3+BlueFront+Cafe013Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Tommy Lee West and harmonica player Cleo Pullman play at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641670440-0HAUL5IR4BP7WYXFWY3G/2004-9-4+Jimmy+Holmes010Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Jimmy Holmes plays at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641648307-R3KEVKC53RVKYQP1TD56/95-3-4+Blue+Front+Cafe009Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Pigs feet for sale on the bar at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641640845-5SIEVSFHD87VWAB66VKT/1995-10-3+BlueFront+Cafe067Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Tommy Lee West and harmonica player Cleo Pullman play at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi.     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641795744-JDCIFTR1UFSR9BMMHO33/2003-6-28+BlueFront+Cafe015Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Jimmy Holmes and harmonica player Bud Spires play at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496642778475-EO1K7HM6G0PKRWXRRGLH/2000-8-29+Jimmy+Holmes013Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Jimmy Holmes plays at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641655789-T3SOLKA4HZUNMRI298ID/95-3-4+Blue+Front+Cafe005Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Harmonica player Cleo Pullman plays at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi. photo by Bill Steber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496642778791-5797LWNS8KKX7KLGT35T/2017-3-15+BlueFront+Cafe025Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Guitarist Jimmy Holmes plays at Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, MS, owned by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes. The Blue Front Cafe is the oldest continuously-operating Juke Joint in the state of Mississippi. photo by Bill Steber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641631977-M9BMZEJS6BC6HQ5NGHFE/1995-10-4+Cotton%26Crosses003Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Crosses along Hwy. 49 at the edge of a cotton field in Bentonia, MS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496642275906-2L1MJEEMWI6YINO1PLF7/1998-7-13+Bud%40JacksGrave008Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Bud Spires puts his hand on the gravestone of his playing partner Jack Owens during a visit to the grave shortly after the stone was placed. photo by Bill Steber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1496641790398-VWTHO64WD3OAVXZFFW7Z/2017-3-16+Cypress+Grove001Tweb.jpg Yazoo County Blues Cyprus trees on the Yazoo River on Hwy 49 West in Yazoo City, MS. "I would rather be buried in some cypress grove I would rather be buried in some cypress grove To have some woman, Lord, that I can't control And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay That'll be all right, pretty mama, you gonna need my help someday And the sun goin' down, and you know what your promise means And the sun goin' down, you know what your promise means And what's the matter, baby, I can't see I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave Than to be way up here, honey, treated this a-way And the old people told me, baby, but I never did know The old people told me, baby woman, but I never did know The good book declare you got to reap just what you sow When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold Means you just gettin' ready, honey, for the cypress grove" -Skip James, "Cypress Grove Blues" http://www.steberphoto.com/hickman-county daily 0.75 2025-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482350030-TJKC166IXPWPKYT9V123/4-22-14+Mom+at+creek001web.jpg Hickman County - My mother, Margaretta Moss Goodpasture, at the site of her birth in a log cabin, Hickman Co., TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482350030-TJKC166IXPWPKYT9V123/4-22-14+Mom+at+creek001web.jpg Hickman County - My mother, Margaretta Moss Goodpasture, at the site of her birth in a log cabin, Hickman Co., TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482360558-81B6L2ALB17JLB6EGJVK/Cave+Moss+Casket.jpg Hickman County - The interment of the casket of my grandfather, Cave Johnson Moss, Fairfield TN, 32 years after his death. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482361765-X1AZ7C3B6597ZRDY4LWQ/Edgar+Clyde+Beard+2+small.jpg Hickman County - My cousin, Edgar Clyde Beard, re-creating a portrait of his grandfather, Morris Mackfield Beard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482365702-OIJJZ1BLRW3VUT3PFHA7/Michelle+and+Deer003T.jpg Hickman County - My step sister Michelle Goodpasture with buck on Thanksgiving Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482364283-XGWOOQXXOIE6ZTB5O8H7/JimmyEnglandHayRake.jpg Hickman County - My mother's cousin Jimmy England with hay rake, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482368567-EWT0H3HKTKTL1G94CBD9/SaraEngland.jpg Hickman County - Sarah England, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482363740-B6NV4QHVK16P6CEC7PK4/Jimmy%26SaraEngland1T.jpg Hickman County - Jimmy and Sarah England, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482354084-7QS4M19G4LZJU3CSSHGG/2012+Hubert+in+Garden+002T.jpg Hickman County - My uncle Hubert Moss in his garden, Fairfield, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482361347-L5Z5K91ZP5UATENGCYB9/Deer+Hunters.jpg Hickman County - Deer check-in station, Twomey, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482351283-SSN15HROGLHSBVSFX2RM/16-6-11+Homer+Moss001T.jpg Hickman County - My uncle, Homer Moss, at annual Beard family reunion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482367497-NBT8PUITNEMIIAM5MEU7/Robert+Thomasen001T.jpg Hickman County - Robert Thomasson with axe and firewood, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482350024-SRAD91H07PP67U0CGDV9/13-05-20+Matthew+Hutchison001T.jpg Hickman County - Matthew Hutchison on the Warf farm, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482358875-NQAGUYVNHQIBGPI72AM0/2021-4-3+Mom+Easter001T%C2%A911m.jpg Hickman County - My mother on Easter, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482357269-476FTKHXOS2IYJLVI9AF/2019-6-14+Ashley+Taylor001T2.jpg Hickman County - Ashley Taylor with 2 year old daughter Aeriella in Colleytown, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482355723-I2XC5SITDG3OPG7UF7G0/2016-9-25+Minnie+Pearl001T.jpg Hickman County - Minnie Pearl bust made from chicken wire, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482369117-Z0PGPC0BHYF0QU8IB6E3/UncleHomer.jpg Hickman County - My uncle, Homer Moss, at Bells Branch Church of Christ where he attended school https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482351619-396RUX2AE12YDCWV0JTD/16-6-11+Rita+Beard001T.jpg Hickman County - Cousin Rita Beard at spring, Hudgins farm, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482352890-OU9H8M8TG6TXAJSS3LCN/16-9-24+Hester+and+Dale001T2.jpg Hickman County - Aunts Hester Moss and Dale Moss at Bells Branch Church of Christ during annual family reunion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482357557-45RES6TKJMVIZ43PPKBY/2019-6-15+Abner+Dansby002T.jpg Hickman County - Abner Dansby at his home built in 1865, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482360105-1WJVY4FEFXHILH1HJPSJ/2021-4-5+Cville+Library+Staff001T%C2%A911m.jpg Hickman County - Centerville library staff with albino deer. (L to R) Gayla Bunn, Mavis Hiner and David Dansby https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482365065-IQE0EQBIQWTI8IDAUAV6/Kids+and+Roots+2.jpg Hickman County - My nephew Zade Samman and cousins Harrison and Meredith Kelley, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482353581-Z7YFEM6HYPHJNMO6AU5N/16-9-24+Zade+Samman002T20m2.jpg Hickman County - Nephew Zade Samman, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482366177-P95CXJ6C9FD13ZSFQJQU/Mom+at+Bells+Branch+church.jpg Hickman County - My mother, Margaretta Moss Goodpasture, at Bells Branch Church of Christ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482434299-DGM8IT4KJZRQY375ATZF/16-9-24+Watermelon+001T.jpg Hickman County - Watermelon, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482359237-CA789XO253VVLIT80XM7/2021-4-3+Sharisse+Robert001T%C2%A911m.jpg Hickman County - My sister Sharisse Steber and Robert Bright, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482362446-THDQWBTFQWBCTWJ6H6A5/foot+bridgeT.jpg Hickman County - Foot bridge, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482352450-DH36Q4GN7BVPVZPDHKKI/16-6-18+Mom+in+backyard001T.jpg Hickman County - My mother, Margaretta Moss Goodpasture in her back yard, Centerville, TN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482362923-18NQTJV2IEIDRLWJ20T3/Holdays1T.jpg Hickman County - Jim, Kim and Ryan Holaday at their home in Ring Valley, Hickman Co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482368014-AG6HLX3SOTCF5FNVSV6M/Robert+Thomasen003.jpg Hickman County - Robert Thomasson at his home on Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482366937-UQ8LHQ5HJZS3ZB9GHNL5/MomsCousin+James+Connelly.jpg Hickman County - My mother's cousin James Connelly, Bells Branch Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1737482355450-OPIMTDR67A6ZS0CPCYNS/2012+Vines+001.jpg Hickman County - Vines in my uncle Hubert Moss's garden, Fairfield, TN http://www.steberphoto.com/contact daily 0.75 2014-07-28 http://www.steberphoto.com/about daily 0.75 2024-01-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53d54281e4b06732e276eb85/1406507868369-H6KZE5ISQVKSF8X7LVJQ/Bill+BhamTsmall.jpg ABOUT http://www.steberphoto.com/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2022-08-08