The sixth long-play record by Wabbaseka native son Billy Jeter is set to hit shelves Oct. 7. His latest offering is aptly named “Delta Traces.”
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, “traces” is defined as “a mark or sign that something existed.” It further carries the meaning: “a very small quantity, especially one too small to be accurately measured.”
“My thinking when I named this thing was about different avenues where music has flowed up, through and around the Delta and how it developed,” Jeter said.
The Shine Eye label LP runs down 10 stories about growing up in the Arkansas Delta and how it molded Jeter.
“To me it’s a portrait of the Delta with all the characters that populate it. Besides that, I wanted to highlight the many great musical talents that come from a seven-mile circle around Altheimer,” Jeter said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The song “Rosie’s Shack” is a clear reflection of that intent and accomplished two distinct goals, showcasing local blues men and women from that small area as well as recognizing Wabbaseka’s C&B Market and its owner, Rose Conley.
“It’s an Americana song that contains a microcosm of the Delta in that one roadside business next to U.S. Highway 79,” he said.
He explained how C&B is one of the few surviving juke joint/country stores still keeping that tradition alive. The number begins with describing a Sunday afternoon at the “Shack,” followed by mention of American blues icons who have visited the historic location, including Big Bill Broonzy, Queen Sylvia Embrey, Bobby Rush, Larry “Totsy” Davis, Sippy Wallace and “Goosey” Willie Moore, among others, all of whom came from north Jefferson County.
The first single off the record is “Hambone Stomp,” which went up Sept. 6.
“Everything I write is triggered by some event in my life,” Jeter said. “I was remembering Bo Holtoff from Dumas doing the hand-jive at Maxine’s in Fayetteville back in ’73. He was the best hand-jiver I’ve ever seen. It got me started beating a guitar riff and I envisioned New Orleans where folks dance in the French Quarter for nickels and dimes. The third element of inspiration came from a one-eyed birddog I have named Hambone.”
He shared how after laying down the basic tracks at Fellowship Hall Studio in Little Rock, Jeter called Bobby Rush and asked if he would be interested in adding a harmonica track to the recording. Upon hearing it, Rush told Jeter, “This number has commercial potential.”
“When I asked Bobby if he liked it, he said, ‘You know I don’t do no bad songs,'” Jeter said.
Upon release, “Hambone Stomp” immediately reached No. 3 on the NACC Top Five Folk List.
The next number is “The Ballad of Goosey Willie.”
“It was inspired by an old blues man I knew from Swan Lake named ‘Goosey’ Willie Moore, who worked on my uncle’s farm and spent time surviving the harsh conditions of the Arkansas penal system back in the day. Willie was a roguish character but a fabulous musician. I wrote four versions of the song before deciding on this one,” he said.
Jeter continued, “Pine Bluff bluesman Detroit Johnny Johnson plays lead guitar on this number. He grew up playing with Goosey and it’s a perfect showcase for Johnny’s talent. I wanted to do what I could to give them both exposure.”
Moore is best remembered for writing “You Don’t Love Me,” which was recorded by the Allman Brothers Band on their “Live at the Fillmore East & West” record.
“Haywood House” is Jeter’s attempt at exposing classic rockers “who came down here and borrowed extensively from Delta players who are yet to get credit for the many great contributions that began on the front porch of shotgun shacks in the cotton fields.”
Jeter shared the story behind his next song, “Gonna Sing.”
“The church in the song was in a cotton field a quarter mile from our house when we were kids. My brother John and I used to hide out in the cotton patch and listen to Sunday afternoon gospel music coming from that white, frame church house,” he said.
Referring to “Storyville Shooting Star,” Jeter said, “One of my three favorite songs I’ve ever written is on this record.”
It describes the point of view of a blues guitarist who gets dumped by his girlfriend on Memphis’ Beale Street and next catches up to her in New Orleans’ Storyville.
Other songs in the collection are “Bowler Man,” “Shady Grove,” “Million Dollar Levee” and “Joy Land.”
“It has taken six albums to write specifically about what I know and what shaped me as a songwriter,” he said. “This thing has a large part of me in it. It’s about the amazing people in north Jefferson County that I grew up around and have been influenced by my whole life.”
“I’m not promising there will be another album, but I’m not promising there won’t be, either,” Jeter said.
After more than a year, Jeter’s previous record “Hysteria,” released in March 2023, remains in the top 10 on Folk Music Report’s Contemporary Folk Album Chart.
Upcoming performances scheduled for the artist include The Oyster Bar in Little Rock on Nov. 9, The Bobby Rush 90+ Birthday Bash in the historic A.B. Banks Building in downtown Fordyce on Nov. 10 and the annual Rosie’s Shack Homecoming event at C&B Market in Wabbaseka on Dec. 8.