Eden Brent first met Willie King at a B.B. King Homecoming in Indianola. It was about 2006. A documentary crew was flanking King. Fans were taking pictures and pressing the elder bluesman for autographs. Brent recalls King’s politeness when they were introduced; it was one of the Prairie Point native’s trademark qualities. Whenever King and Brent met subsequently, he was always friendly.
“He was the real deal, a real bluesman,” said Brent Monday. “He remained true to himself and his blues, no matter how much attention he got — and he got plenty of worldwide attention, but he never let it change him or his music.”
Brent will join recent Grammy-nominee Vasti Jackson, blues historian and radio host Scott Barretta and the Starkville-based Stormy Monday band in paying tribute to the late King at the Columbus Arts Council’s Blues for Willie Festival Thursday through Saturday. King, a frequent arts council performer, played his last show there March 7, 2009. He passed away the next day near his home in the Old Memphis, Alabama, community.
“Willie had a special generosity of spirit and love for everyone he met,” said CAC Program Manager Beverly Norris. “He personified the words ‘for the people.’ He is definitely here with us in spirit through his music.”
Festival events kick off Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Rosenzweig Arts Center with a free Mississippi Writers’ Series talk by Barretta on Mississippi as the “Birthplace of America’s Music.”
Barretta is host of “Highway 61 Radio” and a recipient in 2016 of a Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He helped create the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.
Friday concert
Brent brings her powerful vocals and boogie-woogie style piano to the stage Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Greenville native is a past winner of the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge, and the foundation’s Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year Award, Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year. She has appeared at the Kennedy Center and many prestigious venues and shared a presidential inauguration bill with B.B. King.
Saturday concert
Vasti Jackson’s 7 p.m. show Saturday features music from “The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers,” his 2016 Grammy-nominated album that reveals “how country got the blues.” He also performed on B.B. King’s 1994 Grammy-winning “Blues Summit.”
The McComb native known for his innovative, fiery guitar work and stage presence was named a Mississippi Living Blues Legend in 2011, was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2012 and received a 2015 Albert King Lifetime Guitar Award.
Stormy Monday (John Gholston, Brian Malone, Mitch Shurden and Zac Ashmore) follow Jackson, at 8:30 p.m., performing original music as well the music of blues greats.
Concert tickets are $15 in advance at columbus-arts.org, or $17 at the door. Or purchase a two-night pass for $25 in advance, or $28 at the door. Purchaes tickets by phone at 662-328-2787.
Bikin’ for the Blues
Blues for Willie also encompasses a motorcycle charity ride Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market at Second Avenue and Second Street North. It is presented by the VFW Riders Group Post 4272, the Richard E. Holmes II Memorial Foundation and the arts council. Register ($20 per bike) at columbus-arts.org or by calling the number above.
“Willie King was a great example of the great Mississippi blues tradition; his presence is still felt strongly here,” said Norris. “It’s an honor for us to remember him with these festival events every year.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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