Get The Capital City Blues

Folks in the South know Jackson as an entertainment destination with some of the best music anywhere.  You can catch the blues almost any night at one of several local clubs and chase them away with great Southern food and affordable hotels and inns that range from comfy to downright luxurious.

Did you know that Jackson has an historic blues recording studio now under renovation?  Have you ever wanted a private music lesson with a genuine Mississippi bluesman? Need a private, guided blues tour? Do you like to eat?  You’ve come to the right place 

Just catch a flight to Jackson’s International Airport, or take a short driving detour from Memphis, the Mississippi Delta, or New Orleans and indulge yourself in the Capital City Blues .  While you’re here, check out one of Jackson’s many museums, take in a great local festival, and shop for fine arts and crafts.  Our legendary Jackson hospitality is always perfectly in tune, so you’ll feel right at home whatever you do.

CAPITAL CITY BLUES SUGGESTED ITINERARY

Day One:

  • Fly or drive to Jackson, check into one of our fine 48 Inns or hotels and savor a soulful lunch at a locally favorite restaurant.  See our web site, www.visitjackson.com for hotel and restaurant listings.
  • Take a tour Jackson’s many Mississippi Blues Trail markers found at visitjackson.com or at www.msbluestrail .org/.  There’s a great iPhone application, too.
  • For dinner, choose from “down home cooking,” your favorite ethnic food, fresh Gulf of Mexico seafood, typical American fare, or the elegant, local gourmet cuisine for an unforgettable meal.  Jackson has over 300 restaurants !  Order your Jackson Restaurant Guide by calling 1-800-354-7695.
  • After dark, tour the area hot spots .  For a current schedule, visit www.jacksonfreepress.com and click on “live music.” See “Live Blues Clubs” listing, included, for a sample of the local hot spots.

Day Two:

  • Awake to a great Southern breakfast at your B&B, hotel, or a local restaurant.
  • Inspired by last night's club crawl?  Want to play the blues?  Take a private lesson with a genuine Mississippi bluesman .  We can help arrange it for you!  (by appointment only)
  • Don’t miss the fascinating exhibition, The Legacy of Timbuktu , at the Mississippi Arts Center downtown.  Talk about roots!  Hear how today’s blues recalls the music of Timbuktu on the African continent.  See early instruments thought to be precursors of blues instruments!
  • Check our events calendar on www.visitjackson.com for festivals, concerts and other events  in the city,

MORE bluesy things to do…

On the radio: While you’re in Jackson, tune to AM 1400 for the blues.

For real soul food and the BEST blues juke box from breakfast ‘til the wee hours:  Try Peaches Café at 327 N. Farish Street. 601-354-9267

Blue Monday: Get the blues every Monday at Hal & Mal's Red Room , 200 Commerce Street, from 7-11 PM. Plenty of parking, food, and bar service.  Enter from State Street at Pascagoula. 601-201-1445.

Drive through Historic Farish Street* , now under development as Jackson’s newest entertainment district.  Farish Street is to Jackson what Beale Street is to Memphis and Nelson Street is to Greenville. Soon, you’ll be able to hear the famous “Farish Street Sound” once again at all-new clubs and restaurants.  Can you find these landmarks?  Most now have historic markers.

  • Speir Phonograph Company, 225 N. Farish St.  H.C. Speir, a white store owner, traveled the South as a talent scout in the twenties and thirties, finding blues artists for record companies.  Charley Patton, Skip James, and Willie Brown were among Speir’s discoveries.
  • Ace Records, 241 Farish St.  Producer Johnny Vincent started Ace in 1955 to record New Orleans artists Earl King, Huey “Piano” Smith, and Bobby Marchand.
  • Record Mart (and Trumpet Record Company and Diamond Recording Studio), 309 N. Farish Street.  This building was once a furniture store; its function began to change when the owner’s wife, Lillian McMurry, heard Wynonie Harris’s “All She Wants to do is Rock.”   McMurry started ordering and selling blues and gospel records from her husband’s store.  The record department soon took over the store, and she founded the Trumpet label and began recording music.  She was the first to record Sonny Boy Williamson II and later produced most of his hits.
  • Alamo Theater, 333 N. Farish St.  This grand old theater, one of the first renovations on Farish Street, once hosted vaudeville shows, movies, touring jazz acts, and a weekly talent contest.  Dorothy Moore of “Misty Blue” fame, a native Jacksonian still performing today, was a frequent winner.  Nat King Cole was performing at the Alamo when he got the news that his daughter Natalie was born.
  • Big Apple Inn, 509 N. Farish St.  Sonny Boy Williamson II and his wife Mattie lived in the upstairs apartment during the years he was recording at Trumpet.  Later, that apartment became the state NAACP headquarters, and civil rights leader Medgar Evers worked there as state field secretary.  He was murdered in 1963 at age thirty-six.  His home at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive is now a museum (Call 601-977-7839 for information).  The Big Apple, once known as Big John’s, is famous for its “Smokes” (minced sausage sandwiches), and you can still buy a bagful, as well as pig ear sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, and hot tamales.
  • Birdland, 538 Farish Street.  This bar was once the Crystal Palace, which brought in touring jazz and R&B acts.  The old name is still visible in fading paint on the brick wall on the building’s south side.

*For more information on blues sites in Jackson and throughout Mississippi, pick up a copy of Blues Traveling by Steve Cheseborough (www.stevecheseborough.com), published by University Press of Mississippi (www.upress.state.ms.us). Portions of the text above were excerpted from this book by permission of the author.

For area nightlife, visit www.jacksonfreepress.com and click on “live music.” Need a personal blues guide? We’ll help you arrange that too. For more information on the Capital City Blues and to arrange appointments, call the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1-800-354-7695