That time I asked Delta bluesman Big Jack Johnson what the music scene was like in Mississippi

By Steve Newton

I interviewed Mississippi Delta bluesman Big Jack Johnson back in July of 2003, when he was touring behind his ninth album, The Memphis Barbecue Sessions, and heading to Vancouver for an appearance at the fourth annual Burnaby Blues Festival.

That year the Memphis Barbecue album–which featured appearances by Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and blues-piano legend Pinetop Perkins–won a W.C. Handy Award for Best Acoustic Blues Album.

At one point in the conversation I asked Johnson–who, sadly, passed away in 2011 at the age of 70–what the music scene was like in Mississippi. Turns out there was more rap music goin’ around than he would have liked.

Have a listen:

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