August 13, 2010

Musical Interlude: Delta Blues Festival

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Why Fact-Checkers Drink: According to lore, this is the crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where blues legend Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a total mastery of the guitar.Why Fact-Checkers Drink: According to lore, blues legend Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at this crossroads in Clarksdale, in exchange for a total mastery of the guitar. Or maybe, as the gentleman in front of Church’s Chicken insisted, it was the crossroads a little further up the way. Or maybe, as some say, Johnson never went to any crossroads at all. Or maybe he did, only to discover that there was no Devil to sell his soul to anyway. Or maybe it was all just an elaborate metaphor (Photo: Tim Murphy).Clarksdale, Mississippi—In the rare moments when we’re not battling wildlife and evading the revenuers, we do try to have a little bit of fun on this trip. So last weekend, we took a detour through the Delta to catch a little bit of the (free!) Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in Clarksdale.

Anyway, here’s Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm:

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