The afternoon of Jan. 18 saw a packed house in one of Little Rock’s most iconic music venues, the White Water Tavern.
The occasion was the second in a series of fundraisers for a new blues memorial project headed by Wabbaseka native Billy Jeter.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit has the ultimate goal of placing commemorative plaques along the length of the Arkansas River in the Delta region honoring some of the great, almost forgotten blues music creators who originated in towns such as Pine Bluff, Sherrill, England, Altheimer and Wabbaseka.
The four initial “Arkansas Originals” marker recipients are Sherrill’s Bobby Rush, Queen Sylvia Embry from Wabbaseka, James Yancey “Taildragger” Jones from Altheimer and England’s Larry “Totsy” Davis.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The evening’s entertainment at the White Water included Pine Bluff regulars The Chad Marshall Band, Detroit Johnny Johnson, Mary Bowler, Katrice “Butterfly” Newbill and the Butterfly Experience and singer and songwriter Billy Jeter with his House on Fire Band.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of other Pine Bluff-based fixtures, including Jimmy “Catfish” Cunningham, the Port City Blues Players and Rosie Pettigrew, the Arkansas River Delta Blues Trail has come to the forefront of a broader audience while steady gaining traction collecting grassroots funds to finance the historic plaques.
Jeter said of the Sunday afternoon occasion, “We are here helping bring a lot of Jefferson County and lower Arkansas Delta blues talent to people who haven’t before had the opportunity to be exposed to it. We want this fabulous resource to be shared with all of Arkansas from Little Rock’s Ninth Street to the three-way stop sign in Reydell.”
The organization’s stated objective reads: “Celebrating the rich blues heritage of the Arkansas River Delta, our mission is to honor the musicians, venues and cultural traditions that have shaped Arkansas’s contribution to American music, while inspiring new generations to engage with and carry on the legacy of the Arkansas River Delta Blues.”
The initial ARDBT fundraiser occurred on Nov. 15 at RJ’s Sports Grill & Bar in downtown Pine Bluff.
Plaques average $3500.00 each.
Between the two efforts, enough resources have been collected to fund the first marker remembering Bobby Rush in his childhood home of Sherrill.
With three Grammy wins already to his credit, Rush received his most recent Grammy nomination on Nov. 7 three days before his 92nd birthday.
The latest nomination is for his duo work with Kenny Wayne Sheppard on their record, “Young Fashioned Ways.”
The pair are collaborating on a second LP that should see them in Sheppard’s new Nashville studio within 60 days.
They’ll be laying down tracks for mid-summer release of their second effort.
On Feb. 3, he’ll be traveling to Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards ceremony. Placement of his marker in Sherrill is slated for sometime in late May or early June.
