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On whim and intuition I pulled into the small village of Bentonia, Mississippi (ben-TONE-ya).
Being a little hungry and a whole lot thirsty I stopped at the Blue Front Cafe. A lone man sat on the stoop eatin' a pickled egg and I awkwardly introduced myself and asked if he was the owner. He nodded that indeed he was and said his name is Jimmie. After sizing me up for a few minutes he quietly motioned to go inside to take a look around.
Well, the Blue Front Cafe was anything but a cafe... it was pure juke joint! Let me say that if the blues was rain this place is flooded. It is 60 years old and has been lived in by the likes of Skip James, Jack Owens and Bud Spires with Skip James receiving the most notoriety for his 'uniqueness' playing in minor cross note tunings. As it turns out Skip James may not have been the originator of the Bentonia Blues style but it was more likely to have been a local hero Jack Owens who taught Skip James. Adding to the stories told by owner Jimmie there was no mistaking the authenticity of this juke from the mismatch kitchen chairs and tables to the beat up acoustic guitar, to the pink pickled eggs, Peavey amp and the strong smell of BBQ smoke.
Cautious Jimmie brought me a Corona and invited me to sit on the front porch with him. He was curious about where I was from and "now, what rrrr ya doin' so fer from home girl?" After he got finished with shaking his head about my answer we got down to it...music. Once we were united by country blues he proceeded to grab his beat up Epiphone acoustic and rusted strings. He told me he has no idea what tuning that "I jus' wait 'til sounds gooood then I knows I'm in da rot tune. Peoples say I'm jus' inna mine-a but I done know. I done read music I jus' listen." I watched as his stubbed finger tips and dirty nails (yeah, kind of a hobby of mine lookin' at peoples finger nails -- weird eh?) move the tuning up and down by a whole step, half steps while I got lost. Jimmie was right, when it sounded good he put on an old steel capo and started to play.
Well, as the story goes, beer drinkin' juke joint Danser with modest Jimmie the Owner, he plucked and pinched and flicked the strings for the most authentic blues sound I've ever heard live (sorry Honeyboy). I nearly fell off my chair when he started to sing...deep holler style...and his pickin' he identified as Bentonia Blues. Absolutely shocking!!! Other than the legends I had no idea anyone was carrying on the country blues.
I sang and tapped and that seemed to encourage him to continue but when it was done, it was done. No fan fare. Careful not to close him off with my assertive communication style he began to offer story after story about Skip James, Bud Spires and Jack Owens. At some point he says that he's travelling to Tunica on the 8th 'cuz he'll play a little bit there. I clued in that he might be playing a juke there so upon further inquiry he indicates that he will be performing at the Grand Casino "for some blues award or something". Then he asked in such a real and authentic way when I showed my surprise and awe.."is that somethin' impordant?" I let him know that indeed it is. It is the grand blues show. Turns out he'll be opening the International Blues Awards and has been nominated in the Traditional Blues Category.
Blue Front Cafe Jimmie is Jimmie "Duck" Holmes and this guy without a doubt WILL be the next legend. He is so authentic that it feels like walking back to 1930. There is no describing just how amazing he is playing these Bentonia Blues. He has some support to record from a guy in St. Louis who runs Broke & Hungry Records. And I felt like I'd discovered a mountain of gold!
We were both getting more than excited to share our experiences and love of country blues. As if the baptism couldn't get any more pure, just as Jimmie finishes giving me a tshirt from a box in the shed, I kid you not, no...seriously...a train whistle blows right outside the door and as it rushes past the engine is painted black with red and the HUGE letters CN on the side!!!
My mind was a juke party...moonshine, BBQ and fireworks! I hooted and hollared as that freight roared by just like I did on April 1, 2008 in Waldron, Saskatchewan, Canada. Holy shit!!! He laughed for a long time about my reaction as I showed him the photos of my birthplace, the CN engine rolling along the tracks there and how our home was as close to the tracks as this juke.
'Sippi Slow Down,
Kat
