|
| ||
About bentoniablues.com
| Mission Statement: |
|---|
|
“Anything Bentonia Blues™.” To foster communication among those who love and appreciate the Bentonia School of Delta Blues. |
“It’s the Real Deal!™” Bentonia Blues dot com™ (bentoniablues.com™) is the official website of Bentonia Blues, the annual Bentonia Blues Festival™ and Bentonia Blues Society™’s online forum.
Bentonia, Mississippi, was the hometown of Henry Stuckey (1897 — 1966; 1), founder of the Bentonia style of Blues, and his two famous students, Skip James (June 9, 1902 — October 3, 1969; 1, 2, 3, 4) and Jack Owens (November 17, 1904 — February 9, 1997; 1, 2). Bentonia is also home of the historic Blue Front Café, Mississippi’s oldest and continuously open Juke Joint, where owner Jimmy “Duck” Holmes (born 1947; 1, 2, 3) keeps it authentic, especially when he breaks out his box for an impromptu performance.
No other small town in the world can claim the uniqueness and prolificity of great blues artists as Bentonia. Henry Stuckey, Skip James, Jack Owens, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Benjamin “Bud” Spires (May 20, 1931 — March 20, 2014; 1, 2, 3, 4), Jacob Stuckey (1, 2, 3), and Cornelius Bright (1, 2, 3) all honed (and the extant continue…) their craft in and around Bentonia, especially at the Blue Front Café. Jimmy’s parents founded the Blue Front in 1948, and Jimmy continues to open it every day after both his parents passed in the early ‘70s. Check back often for the latest news about some of the most unusual and authentic Mississippi Delta Blues still performed in the exact location where it originated.