Both the Blue Front Cafe and Nehemiah Curtis “Skip” James have earned markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail. The Bentonia Blues Festival’s longevity and strength is fueled by the mighty talent in the area, as well as the loosely described “school” of music that bears its namesake. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, courtesy of Big Legal Mess It also brought a renewed interest in the varying sub-genres of blues, giving an entirely new and widespread audience their first look at the music that called Bentonia home.īentonia, the small town of less than two thousand, peacefully nestled on Highway 49 below Yazoo City, has embraced its unique musical legacy, hosting the famous Bentonia Blues Festival at the Blue Front Cafe - a world-renowned juke joint owned by contemporary Bentonia bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. This giant new fan base gave James great success as a musician, playing at folk and blues festivals across the country and re-igniting a thirty year long recording hiatus. When the folk scene exploded in the 1960s, long forgotten blues men like Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, and James experienced a resurgence in interest that far eclipsed any notoriety they’d ever enjoyed before. Having made the records during the crest of the Great Depression, James’ music lingered in obscurity, and he gave up playing for decades. First recording for Paramount Records in the early 1930s, he cut what are now regarded as some of the greatest classics in the blues repertoire: “22-20 Blues,” “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” “Devil Got My Woman,” among others. James was an enigmatic and powerful bluesman. “Its blend of minor-key tuning and bleak, forlorn lyrics create a music that manages to be both enthralling and heartbreaking at the same time.” “The Bentonia style is one of the most haunting sounds in all of blues,” says Broke and Hungry Records head Jeff Konkel. The “Bentonia school of blues” is synonymous with two things: haunting minor chords, often played on the guitar in open E or D minor, and blues legend Nehemiah “Skip” James - one of the town’s most celebrated residents. Perhaps one of the most striking, haunting of these sub-genres comes from the small town of Bentonia, Mississippi - the aptly named Bentonia Blues. Geographical regions and particularly influential blues musicians could spawn entire sub-genres and styles of blues. While the area is perhaps most well known for its searing delta blues, the southern state’s unique musical diversity has long been a part of its charm. One of Mississippi’s greatest cultural contributions is its diverse musical legacy - a region that was largely responsible for creating the music that we know today.
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