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PAUL:

Mississippi gave the world the blues and decades later that sound is still echoing on stages here and far from home. Hey, it's Paul Wolf with a front row seat to conversations on culture from Jackson, Mississippi. We call our podcast Soul Sessions. It's the people, places and events that make the City With Soul Shine. On today's show, we're celebrating the roots and rhythms of Mississippi blues and its powerful connection to the Chicago Blues Festival with Visit Mississippi's Michelle McAdoo. From the local legends to their lasting legacies, Michelle will help us explore how Mississippi continues to shape and share the soundtrack of the South. How many years now has Visit Mississippi been going to Chicago for the Chicago Blues Festival?

MICHELLE:

I've been with Visit Mississippi for almost two years. So I've learned that we have gone to this festival, I think, 11 years. This will be our 11th year. But this year is the 41st year of the festival and it has grown from a smaller park to Millennium Park. And I actually spoke with Dexter Allen yesterday and he gave me a little nugget of how small the Visit Mississippi stage was years ago. Meaning 2009, he said it was a four foot stage with two speakers on it on tripods and that was it. No subwoofers, no anything. And he said, ‘I didn't want to be a prima donna, but I called the Chicago people while I was there and told them I'm not performing on this stage.’ And he said, in his mind, ‘I knew I could not not perform,’ but he said, ‘I was so angry. I told them they need to get me something and they got me some subwoofers, at least some subs so I can hear.’ He said, it was crazy. He said, ‘it was the smallest stage I've ever performed on.’

And what we talked about from that conversation was, how it's not only our artists that we bring, but it's the experience that we give our festival goers. And you know, as well as I, how big the festival is and how big our stage and our activation is. We have a huge stage with Visit Mississippi banners. Mississippi is present in the Chicago Blues Fest. People come, I hate to say it, to see our artists on our stage and come by our booth. This was told from the festival goers mouths, not ours.

PAUL:

And this is one of my favorite trips every year. I've been to Chicago for the blues festival multiple times now and hats off to the city of Chicago and their parks and recreation because they throw these free festivals like their blues festival, their gospel festival, their R and B festival, and they are absolute precision and an amazing time. So if you want to join us in Chicago, it's the first weekend in Chicago, the Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Millennium Park. And we're going to have the best week, I promise. It is the largest free festival in the country that has been pinned the largest. So understand how important our sponsorship is to this type of level of festival. you know, Mississippi is the birthplace of America's music and it doesn't matter if we have an artist that lived in Chicago for 30, 40 years, they will always be born in the South. We have a lineup this year, amazing lineup. And I think every last one of them either was born in Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi or Tennessee.

PAUL:

We call Chicago “North Mississippi,” right?

MICHELLE:

It is.

PAUL:

So tell us who is going to be on the Mississippi stage at this year's Chicago Blues Festival.

MICHELLE:

I like that we mixed it up. We have an even amount of women and men this year and I love it.

PAUL:

Very good.

MICHELLE:

Thursday night is a special activation at Ramova Theatere in Chicago. It's a Living Blues panel discussion. It's gonna start at 3.30 and it's gonna feature Jim O'Neill and Scott Beretta and other blues historians. And they're gonna have discussion and talk about the history of the Living Blues Magazine. And of course, Scott Beretta and Jim O'Neill are our scholars. They write our blues trail markers. And then after the discussion, they're going to have an intimate session with none other than the legendary Bobby Rush.

PAUL:

Oh my.

MICHELLE:

That's from 5:30 to 6:30. And then starting at 7:30, they're going to have Billy Branch and the Sons of the Blues perform. And right after that, Bobby Rush is coming up at nine o'clock to 10:15 and he's going to do a concert. So that's Thursday night.

PAUL:

That's just Thursday night!

MICHELLE:

That's just Thursday night!

PAUL:

Take us to the stage on Friday.

MICHELLE:

Friday we're going to have, we're going to start off with Lady A. It's Lady Adrena. She's a great dynamic fiery singer. She starts at noon, all of the concerts, all the shows and the artists start at noon. Then after her is Vic Allen. He's a Mississippi favorite and Johnny Rawls. He is going to be coming up after Vic. And of course, closing out Friday night is Eddie Cotton.

PAUL:

That's a great lineup.

MICHELLE:

Dynamic.

Before we leave talking about Friday night though, there is a special celebration happening. Friday night on the main stage, we will have a unique BB King Centennial celebration with a BB King All-Star band that's going to actually perform his album, “Live at the Regal.”

PAUL:

Man, that's gonna be a show.

MICHELLE:

Featuring Kingfish…

PAUL:

Come on…

MICHELLE:

…at the lead, DK Harrell and Jonathan Ellison. Now, DK Harrell and Jonathan Ellison were new to me. I was introduced to them at Jesse's (Robinson) unveiling for his marker. And I was amazed. DK Harrell is a young guy. Jonathan Ellison is from Memphis. Mississippi will be at the forefront because we're also playing a five minute commercial that our marketing firm put together. And I'll be presenting them on stage with, along with Robert Terrell, because it's presented by Visit Mississippi and the B.B. King Museum, that centennial is. So that's gonna be a great night.

Now, Saturday, we're gonna start off the day with 2 Blues For You. Now this guy, Eric, he won the IBC this year. He was at the IBC and he won the duo solo category second place.

PAUL:

International Blues Competition, right?

MICHELLE:

Yes, and he won that second place and he plays trombone, keyboard, drums. He plays a lot of instruments and he's very talented. Then Jesse Robinson will be coming on after him. Vicki Baker, I did some research on her. She has a neat story. She's actually a music educator. She taught music in Vicksburg and she's going to sing. And then John Primer is going to close out the show on Saturday.

On Sunday will be—I love this guy—Stevie J. Blues. He's opening up at noon. Nellie Tiger-Travis. She's coming on after Stevie. Jonathan Ellison, which will be part of the BB King Centennial celebration. He's going to be on our stage at three and then closing out our stage on Sunday is Ms. Jody and she's fiery and gets people out of their chairs. So we're going to have a big party all three days. I'm excited. While I was researching all the artists, I was getting more excited because I can't wait to see the reaction of the audience. What a great lineup.

PAUL:

If you're in the Chicagoland area that first weekend of June—that's the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th—please come by Millennium Park and see us at the Visit Mississippi stage and the big booth that we're going to have giving out all kinds of literature and trinkets and fun giveaways. And you get to talk to all of us folks from Mississippi who love it here and who want you to come visit and see us in Mississippi. Michelle, while I've got you here, I want to rewind the clock a little bit to March of this year and talk about a man you mentioned a little earlier, who is a part of this year's blues festival, the one and only Jesse Robinson. He finally got his blues trail marker in front of the Iron Horse Grill the same week that he was the Grand Marshal of the Hal’s St. Paddy's Parade in Jackson. I mean, double honors for this legend. And the Iron Horse and Jesse all just kind of coalescing together to make this happen. And of course, Visit Mississippi. Just briefly talk about your recollections of that day and what it means to honor somebody like Jesse Robinson. That marker was a pleasure to work on with Andy Nesenson at the Iron Horse Grill. He was very passionate about getting this marker in the ground for Jesse.

ANDY NESENSON:

What Jesse brings to the table, I he's played here from the very beginning. We reopened the restaurant back in 2013. And from that moment, he's always been a staple of our live entertainment three nights a week. So it was a natural fit whenever the marker, that opportunity became to showcase Jesse. But at the end of the day, he deserves that. When you think of live music and live blues in Jackson for decades, Jesse's name always comes to the forefront. And so to be able to have that at our front door and share that with tourists from all across America, many different countries all throughout the year come to the Iron Horse Grill, not just to see live entertainment, but to also experience Jesse and the museum upstairs and the blues in Mississippi.

MICHELLE:

He (Jesse) was very pleasant to work with, very humble and very appreciative about everything. We put on the plaque, all of the pictures and the day, that day of the unveiling, it just seemed like he took everything in. It almost, when I looked at him, I think it felt like it was a little overwhelming for him. I don't think he realized, or he felt that this is really happening.

JESSE ROBINSON:

It shows me reality of the work that I've done in the past and how people are really appreciated. And I'm accepting it and I really appreciate it. And it makes me feel good. I mean, it's just like a payday, you know? And that's the big one because so much of, I put so much have gone into that in my life. You know, and that is my life. That is part of my history. That's it. it. That's a chip out of it. And it's great. And I think a lot of people is working me into that and they are proud of it. It's just the thing to do, you know. And I thank God for letting me live long enough to see that.

PAUL:

Music makes people happy.

JESSE:

Oh, it does. It makes me happy. It's not only, I don't just play it for people, I play it for everybody. I play it to heal mine. I feel my difficulties, my blues, my ups and my downs. I also play it to deal with my happiness, with my success. I mean, it's just a universal language that touches everybody. Ya know, music. Sing it out, cry it out. You know?

PAUL:

Why Iron Horse? Why is that the best location for your marker?

JESSE:

That's the one I lobbied for and they understood. I got a chance for them to understand how important it would be for them and how important it would be for me and how important it would be for the state. And they said and they listened and they came back by the yes and just said, ‘We want to do this for you,’ you know? And it happened. Well, I'm on six markers across Mississippi already, but not the Jesse Robinson marker. But I'm on some great markers with some great entertainers across Mississippi. I used to be on the board of the Blues Commission. Matter of fact, I was there when we designed this marker deal. And thanks to Iron Horse, them for listening to me, and the crew there, for taking me serious to put that marker there. And it would be beneficial history for them and the state and the city of Jackson, forever.

MICHELLE:

And everybody that was there really was honored to be there and said that Jesse deserved that marker. I was pleased at how many people came out to support Jesse and to give him his flowers while he's there. And I do want to say this about unveiling. We do a lot of unveiling here and it's personal pleasure for me to do a marker unveiling with a person that's still with us. Jesse has been very instrumental in not just Jackson Mississippi blues, but Mississippi blues. He toured all over with B.B. King and he knows the ins and outs of the grind, of the hustle of a musician. He also knows that the importance of teaching our future musicians about the ins and outs of the business. And I love that about him. He started the Monday blues at Hal & Mal’s. He was instrumental in the Mississippi blues commission, getting underway and started. He's very passionate about paying it forward.

PAUL:

Michelle, what a great role you have there at Visit Mississippi and what a great job you get to wake up and go to every day.

PAUL:

I'm proud to be a part of the team here at Visit Mississippi and even more proud of the work we're doing to celebrate the roots of American music. Whether it's installing new markers or story historic ones, beautifying the trails or sharing our story at national festivals, we're making sure that the blues and the people who made it continue to be honored for generations to come.

PAUL:

As the Chicago Blues Festival lights up the stage this summer, Mississippi's influence will be right there in the mix. Don't forget to go by Iron Horse Grill and check out that Blues Trail marker for Jesse Robinson, hometown hero and blues legend. And keep an eye out, too: 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the Mississippi Blues Trail. And there are some big celebrations ahead. We'll have links to all of this and more in our show notes at visitjackson.com/soul sessions. This podcast is produced by Visit Jackson, the destination organization for Mississippi's capital city. Our executive producers are Jonathan Pettss and Dr. Ricky Thigpen, and I'm our managing editor.

You want to keep up with everything going on in Jackson? You can always do that at VisitJackson.com.

I'm Paul Wolf. You've been listening to Soul Sessions.

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