Delta Blues Symposium celebrates 100 years of Delta culture

Academia and music will mingle this week at ASU's 15th annual Delta Blues Symposium.

The symposium, which is scheduled to begin Thursday, April 2, consists of panel discussions, poetry readings, blues music history, scholarly paper readings and musical performances.

This year's symposium, which coincides with ASU's Centennial Celebration, is titled "Celebrating a Century of Delta Culture."

According to Symposium Director Richard Burns, the 3-day event is unique in its combination of academics and musical performances.

"It's contributed to putting ASU on the map," Burns said.

Gregory Hansen, co-coordinator for the symposium, said the event "is really something unique to this university."

"Even if you're not interested in the blues, you'll find something interesting [at the symposium]," Hansen said.

Also, blues musician Lemuel Sheppard will perform in a concert Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts building's Recital Hall.

In addition to performing music, Sheppard will talk about the heritage of the blues.

Hansen, an associate professor of English and folklore, said the concert isn't a lecture.

"It'll be a great concert for someone who is kind of new to the blues," he said.

The symposium will conclude on Saturday, April 4, outside the Student Union on the Heritage Plaza lawn with a free concert.

The concert begins at 12:30 p.m. and consists of three performances.

The first performer, Valerie June, is from Memphis, Tenn., and has been featured as part of radio station KASU's Bluegrass Monday concerts.

The second performer Saturday will be Terry "Harmonica" Bean, a blues musician from Mississippi.

The Bluesberry Jam Band, from Jackson, Tenn., will be the last group to perform.

Following this third performance, there will be an open mic/jam session.

Hansen said during this time anyone from the audience can perform blues music on the stage.

Audience members can also read poetry from the stage.

"Anything blues-related goes," Hansen said.

For those who wish to sing on stage, they have the option of being accompanied by the Bluesberry Jam Band.

Hansen said many high-quality blues musicians are expected to attend the concert and participate in the open mic session.

Burns, associate professor of English and folklore, said the symposium-as well as the concert-attracts people from all across the United States.

"The blues is one of the most important expressive forms that's come out of the Arkansas delta," Burns said.

Burns cites this as one reason the symposium has popular appeal.

"It appeals to a lot of disciplines as well as to musicians," Burns, said.

Every year, there are representatives from many different academic areas who wish to read a scholarly paper or participate in some other type of presentation at the symposium.

This year's symposium will consist of readings of papers such as "Pigmeat and Barbecue: Foodways and Gender Relations in the Writing of Z.N. Hurston," by ASU student Brandon Looney, "Living Canvas: The Modern Custom Tattoo Shop," by Colin Beineke from ASU, and "'Don't Let Nobody Tell You Them Dogs Wont Bite': Booker White, Mose Allison, and the Changing Image of Parchman Farm," by John Kimsey, who is from DePaul University.

All of these readings will take place in the Mockingbird Room on the third floor of the Student Union. The papers will be presented at 2 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Friday, respectively.

In addition to scholarly paper presentations, discussion panels and a reading of a theatrical performance will take place in the Mockingbird Room.

The theatrical performance is a reading of a portion of David Starwalt "The Brotherhood of Blue."

Starwalt and his company will perform the reading 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

Hansen described the play as a "psychological drama."

Another key event this year is former President Clinton diarist Janis Kearney's reading of her two most recent books and, poet Dale Smith's reading of his poetry at the Grand Hall in the Fowler Center.

This will take place Friday at 7:30 p.m., and free refreshments will be provided.

A complete schedule of this year's Delta Blues Symposium events can be found at http://www.clt.astate.edu/blues

In case of rain the Heritage Plaza event will be held in the Student Union.