{"id":113988,"date":"2021-09-20T14:57:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=113988"},"modified":"2021-09-20T14:57:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:57:54","slug":"10th-annual-oxford-blues-festival-kicks-off-thursday-september-23-at-lamar-yard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/10th-annual-oxford-blues-festival-kicks-off-thursday-september-23-at-lamar-yard\/","title":{"rendered":"10th Annual Oxford Blues Festival Kicks Off Thursday, September 23 at Lamar Yard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Performers include R.L. Boyce and Anthony &#8220;Big A&#8221; Sherrod<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After a one year hiatus due to the pandemic, Oxonians are excited to welcome back the annual <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordbluesfest.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oxford<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordbluesfest.com\"> Blues Festival<\/a><\/strong> this weekend. The festivities will begin <strong>Thursday<\/strong> evening, <strong>September 23<\/strong>, with a kickoff party at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lamaryard.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lamar Yard<\/a><\/strong> on South Lamar Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe kickoff Thursday is kind of a welcome, a time for people who are coming in from out of town to relax and get settled into Oxford. We are going to kick off the festival to celebrate music, good food, and family and friends,\u201d said said festival organizer&nbsp;<strong>Darryl<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Parker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parker also emphasized that the festival will follow all state health department guidelines to best ensure the safety of attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DNxHG1cjkcw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p>First up Thursday evening will be <strong>Jimmy \u201cDuck\u201d Holmes<\/strong> and <strong>R. L. Boyce<\/strong> at 7 pm. Holmes is the proprietor of one of the oldest juke joints in Mississippi, <a href=\"http:\/\/msbluestrail.org\/blues-trail-markers\/blue-front-cafe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Blue Front<\/strong> <strong>Cafe<\/strong><\/a> in <strong>Bentonia<\/strong>. In the mid-2000s he began performing blues actively after many years of performing casually, and he has already garnered several awards and accolades. He is a practitioner and conscious advocate of a distinctive blues style from his hometown, whose most famous proponent was blues pioneer <strong>Nehemiah<\/strong> &#8220;<strong>Skip&#8221; James<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RLBoyceOfficial\/\" target=\"_blank\">R.L. Boyce<\/a><\/strong> has been a musician since his days as a child growing up in <strong>Como<\/strong>, Mississippi, home to the great <strong>Hill Country<\/strong> bluesman <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/southdocs.org\/project\/shakem\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mississippi Fred McDowell<\/a><\/strong>. He started out as a drummer, playing for the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoreader.com\/music\/sharde-thomas-propels-the-rising-stars-fife-drum-band-into-a-new-century\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rising Star Fife and Drum Band<\/a><\/strong> with blues legend <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.southernfoodways.org\/film\/otha-turner\/\" target=\"_blank\">Otha Turner<\/a><\/strong>, all the while waiting to come out in front to sing and play guitar. His songs are often delivered in an improvisational fashion, with references to his collaborators, his environs and whatever else happens to be on his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Es4JlPj2VQc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Following Holmes and Boyce at 8:15 pm is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Dave-Shermans-Music-Page-102031534914872\/\">Dave Sherman<\/a><\/strong>, who is known for hard-driving blues tunes like The Duct Tape Blues and soulful songs about real life experiences of family, faith, and work. Sherman escorts his audiences from Mayberry to see Andy and Barney, to Alaska to witness the Gold Rush, and to a hospital corridor to hear a baby girl being born. Dave was born and raised in the Greenville, Mississippi, where learned the <strong>Delta Blues<\/strong> at an early age.  He has shared the stage with such acts as with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nittygritty.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band<\/a><\/strong>, <strong>The Hues Corporation<\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bloodsweatandtears.com\">Blood Sweat &amp; Tears<\/a><\/strong>. He currently resides in East Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The night&#8217;s final act, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Big-A-The-Allstars-1420114504916225\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anthony &#8220;Big A&#8221; Sherrod<\/a><\/strong>, will take the stage at 9:30 pm. Sherrod is a current bluesman that performs regularly in Oxford. His natural showmanship proves that one can hear authentic music in <strong>Clarksdale<\/strong> today that is as good as it ever was historically. At present Anthony has a weekly residence at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/02\/26\/515756975\/a-night-at-reds-juke-joint-in-the-mississippi-delta-is-a-true-blues-experience\"> <strong>Red\u2019s Lounge<\/strong><\/a>, the famous juke joint in Clarksdale\u2019s historic downtown <strong>Arts &amp; Culture District<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vnsaLmGmWEw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Like his deep Delta Blues forefathers, young Anthony\u2019s introduction to music was found in the church. His father, <strong>E.J. Johnson<\/strong>, was a gospel singer that performed with <strong>The Golden Stars<\/strong> gospel group. By age 6, Anthony started playing, and he hasn\u2019t stopped since. He is professionally proficient on bass and guitar, and he also plays drums, keyboards, and is the lead vocalist in his current band, <strong>Big A and the Allstars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anthony exemplifies the success of the blues music education after-school program at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltabluesmuseum.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Delta Blues Museum<\/a><\/strong>, where he studied under bluesman <strong>Mr. Johnnie Billington<\/strong>, who tutored young Anthony with a strict practice schedule of both music development and a focus on learning important life lessons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a young bass player, Anthony took the stage with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buddyguy.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buddy Guy<\/a><\/strong> in Clarksdale. He regularly played at Delta Blues Museum events and held a Thursday gig at an important former Clarksdale venue, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/msbluestrail.org\/recurring-calendar-items\/sarahs-kitchen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sarah\u2019s Kitchen<\/a><\/strong>. Sherrod has also appeared in a documentary film, played overseas, and regularly performs throughout the region and at festivals in the Mississippi Delta and across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy &#8220;Duck&#8221; Holmes, R.L. Boyce, Dave Sherman, and Anthony &#8220;Big A&#8221; Sherrod will perform Thursday, September 23 at Lamar Yard to kick off the 10th Annual Oxford Blues Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":114001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[321],"tags":[6323,19386,10700,2022,7124,18519,467,6705],"class_list":["post-113988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-localfestivals","tag-anthony-big-a-sherrod","tag-dave-sherman","tag-delta-blues","tag-hill-country-blues","tag-jimmy-duck-holmes","tag-lamar-yard","tag-oxford-blues-fest","tag-r-l-boyce"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/feat-anthony-sherrod.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}