The Crossroads

The Crossroads of Highways 61 and 49

This is the crossroads of the blues. It's where folks migrating north to Chicago made their way from the lower delta of the Mississippi up Highway 61. Northwest on Rt. 49 from Jackson and points further south in Mississippi and Alabama. Chicago, Kansas City, Tulsa Okla - they were looking for work after the mechanization of the large farms and plantations. This is where highway 61 and Rt. 49 cross in Clarksdale Mississippi. But even before the great migration Clarksdale was the place the bluesmen stopped as they made their way around Mississippi playing the Juke Joints and Party Shacks  - at least thats the story. The most famous story though is the one about Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the Crossroads. But which Crossroads? The devil know there a LOT of crossroads in cotton growing areas of the delta. Where was Robert's?

Robert Johnson

We talked almost every night we were in Clarksdale with blues men of every description and just plain folks from the area trying to find where those crossroads might have been. Obviously not the tourist crossroads at highway 61 and 49. We heard a lot of stories and drove out to a lot of crossroads in the area. We were pointed to a very promising one by an 80+ year old blues guitarist who told us some little known stories that we found to be true by doing some research. He told us that people didn't really know that Robert had lived as a young man at Tunica Mississippi. The road that joined highway 61 out of Tunica was originally a 'Y' crossroads at a graveyard. Though that 'y' is no longer there - the graveyard is. He assured us that was where young Robert stopped and made his deal with the devil after deciding to leave Tunica and be a 'walkin' blues man. It sounded good and had cost me almost a full bottle of whiskey to get this story out of him so we headed out the next day to find this graveyard:

Graveyard North of Clarksdale on Highway 61

It was a cold,rainy, bone chilling morning all overcast and properly spooky but - it just didn't seem right. I took a few pictures and we left unconvinced that we had been to THE Crossroads.

That night, Sunday, our last in Clarksdale, we were in a local drunkards hangout talking about the films we had seen with a few of the people we had met at the festival. When I went up to the bar to buy a round a younger looking fellow we had seen around town all weekend playing guitar and singing on streetcorners for spare change slid onto a bar stool beside me. He's asked me not to use his real name so I will just call him Mr. "A". He was pretty tall, had a fedora on his head and an old suit like the Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan show. He was pretty young looking but I couldn't really be sure of his age. Anyway he said he heard I was lookin' for the crossroad and for a glass of Irish Whiskey he would tell me the real story including how to find the crossroads. I figured 'what the hell' Ive tried everything else and ordered him a shot of Jameson's. He put his hand on arm and said,"A glass sport...". I got him his glass and Mr. "A" leaned over and told me this story about Robert Johnson:

Robert was born 100 years ago this May 8th in Hazelhurst Mississippi and there is going to be some serious partying around the Delta this year to commemorate his birthday. The story is ol' Robert was a harmonica player who wanted to play guitar....but he stunk up the place when he tried to play and after being laughed at by patrons of the Jukes and other musicians he went back to the Hazelhurst area to woodshed. There he hooked up with a guitar player from Beauregard named Ike Zimmerman.

Ike Zimmerman

Ike was known to play at night sitting on the grave stones in local cemeteries in the Beauregard area - just for the peace and quiet he'd say. According to relatives he had Robert join him in these cemeteries for his guitar lessons - might have been the first place the devil heard him play! (This is that cemetery:)

Beauregard Cemetery

After 7 months (or 2 years by other accounts) Robert headed back up the road towards Clarksdale to show off his new chops. Somewhere between Beauregard and Rosedale, around midnight (or at dusk by other accounts) he was walking down a dirt road and when he came to a crossroads a man came up off the road and offered to tune his guitar for him. The woodshedding with Ike had greatly improved his playing but after this man tuned his guitar Robert played like nobody else alive. But the devil got his due as Robert Johnson died young - poisoned by a jealous husband or girlfriend. He was the 1st member of the 27 club - famous musicians who have died at the age of 27. Jimi Hendix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain to name just a few.

I told him that was a great story and I had heard most of it before and how the hell this story was gonna tell me where the crossroads were?  Mr. "A" told me to get a map of Mississippi that included all road county roads. I told him I already had one. He said, "Good - find Beauregard and draw a straight line between there and Rosedale. Count the crossroads along that line and the 27th crossroads will be the one you want. You'll know it when you get there cause you'll be going slightly up hill and it'll look like the electric lines are floating overhead just before you get to the crossroads" I told the bartender to pour him another glass of Jameson's and asked him to wait while I brought the Red-headed Irish Girl over to hear the story. When I got back he was gone - and so was the second glass of whiskey.

We headed to Beauregard the next day. I found the Beauregard Memorial Cemetery that Ike Zimmerman's sister said was one that Robert and Ike played in.

One of the head stones they could have played on.

For whatever reason this place resonated and gave us that chill that lets you know that you might be on to something. I got out my guitar and played "Good Mornin' Blues" just see if I could wake up a few spirits.

Me and the Spooks

When the dogs began to bark and the crows screamed in protest I went back to the car and got out the Miss. Map and started to count.....

After a few hours of driving through various back roads we came down a long dirt road to the 27th crossroads. Even though the day had been overcast and cloudy all along, just as we came up a slight hill to the crossroads some light came through the clouds and because we were lower than the road the electric wires seemed to hover above the crossroads completely suspended.

THE Crossroads

I got out my guitar and walked down the road and came back to the crossroads. It was dusk....the last hour before sunset on the night of the dark of the moon. I played a few chords and I just KNEW this was the same place Robert had met the man who tuned his guitar.

'Bad Boy' at the crossroads.

Now I'm not really superstitious but if a black cat had crossed our paths right then I would have jumped back in the car and headed right back to Blue Honey. Even still I was not inclined to hang around til midnight to see who might be lying in the middle of the road wanting to teach me a new tuning. Especially since it was going to be very dark with no moon and there wouldn't be much to see with my eyes. I was feelin' the voodoo though and wanted to take some kind of magic away from that place. So I buried 6 guitar picks along the crossroads at dusk on the dark of the moon in January 2011 and let them saturate all  that night - when it got so dark you couldn't see to walk across the parking lot of the motel to the ice machine.

Me burying 6 guitar picks at the Crossroads

The next morning I went back and dug them up. I had decided overnight to bury a 'lucky' 13 more - all from the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi (that's another story) to let 'em marinate in the Crossroads VooDoo for 3 full moons. I'm gonna pick them up in the spring....they outta be full of the Delta magic by then.

The spot where 13 Hard Rock Guitar picks are cookin' Blues VooDoo!

I really did bury those picks there and I really do believe I found the crossroads! If you want one of those picks email me with who you are and why you should have a 'voodoo' pick from THE Crossroads! Put crossroads in the subject line or my spam filter will trash your email.

joeflmr@yahoo.com

"I believe I'm sinkin' down"

The Fire & Mr. Johnson

The First Annual Clarksdale Mississippi Film Festival

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge)

Clarksdale Mississippi. Crossroads of the Blues. Juke Joints. Music in the Streets. History everywhere. Childhood home of Tennessee Williams. Southern everything. Film Mecca?......wha...? Thats right Clarksdale just hosted it's first (and hopefully) annual film festival! With an emphasis on Mississippi themed films and shorts the festival ran across 4 days from January 27 through January 30.


Organised by film maker Roger Stolle owner of the world famous Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in downtown Clarksdale.

Cat Head Delta Blues

Cat Head sells an incredible array of Blues oriented merchandise and art.

Some Cat Head Stuff

Clarksdale has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts in recent years as people like Roger and other merchants have moved into the downtown area and begun refurbishing dilapidated buildings. Part of this process has involved the starting of or continuation of festivals centered around the the music of the Mississippi Delta and the opening of museums celebrating this music and other types of Southern Heritage. This has included an upscale restaurant - Mididi - and and a blues club - Ground Zero - opened by Morgan Freeman and local Attorney and businessman Bill Luckett. Mr Luckett has thrown his hat in the ring for governor of Mississippi and I would say that most states (shameless plug) would be lucky to have a true blues affectionado as Mr. Luckett for their governor. Mr. Luckett is a tireless booster of the Clarksdale  resurgence and has put his money where his mouth is. We were impressed by his willingness to sit down and shoot the breeze over breakfast with the locals and strangers at the Delta Amusement Cafe on Delta Ave. just down from the Ground Zero Blues Club.

Da Bob - an I-talian in the Delta

Everyday of the festival our morning started here at the Amusement for breakfast, conversations, and of course a film. One of the components of the film festival was to enlist local restaurants to play films on their tv screens throughout the day. We enjoyed 'Breakfast Club' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' at Delta Amusement on Friday and Saturday mornings. On Sunday Bobby Tarzi (the owner and prime raconteur) informed us there was good news and bad news. The good news was he wasn't cooking that day and the bad news was we were going hungry cause nothing was open downtown for breakfast! On the days he WAS cooking we enjoyed a home cooked breakfast and visits with 2 of the other organizers of the film festival - Nan Hughes and Goldie Hishberg.

Nancy on the left and Goldie on the right enjoying 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

We met Nancy our first day in town when we asked for directions to buy tickets. She was incredibly helpful all weekend and was always available to answer questions about Clarksdale or talk about anything at all whenever she got a break. Goldie was the indefatigable cheerleader. The Lady seemed to be everywhere and to know everyone and had that southern grace about her that managed to make a tee-shirt look elegant. Roger was the coordinator, Nancy the organizer, and Goldie the fundraiser. Together they were a formidable team that managed to create an amazing event.


THURSDAY


The festival began with a welcome from the organizers and a little music in the lobby of the Delta Cinema from Cadillac John, Bill Abel and Jon Popper sittin' in. Just some fine delta blues.

Cadillac John - 84 years old and still boppin the blues

From Left:
Jon Popper, Cadillac John, Bill Abel

The first film of the festival was "Raiders of the Lost Ark: Adaptation" by teen-age boys from Mississippi. A shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark that they started before they were old enough to drive and finally finishing seven years later. This film was at first in the WTF?! category for me. As I watched it became more and more engrossing. They actually did the entire movie with clever special effects and sets they made up as they went along. The boys obviously aged aged during the filming and it somehow worked - sort of like the dead moose on the piano - it made an odd kind of sense as the movie went along. Two of the films makers and actors were there to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. Both are very engaging young guys and have continued on to form a film company. The number one question was "Why?!" The answer was they were just your regular everyday teens - obsessed with making movies and they just couldn't quit. A monument to perseverance they managed to pull it off with the money from paper routes and allowances. All of them were living in single parent homes with limited resources but with the complete support of those parents. It was a wonderful film and I urge everyone who gets a chance to see it.

FRIDAY

The schedule continued in Theater 1 with:

Barefoot Workshops: Clarksdale Retrospective, Part I – First retrospective of film shorts shot over the past few years highlighting fascinating cultural aspects of Clarksdale / Coahoma County residents, businesses, blues music and history.

Selections from Music in the Hall: Volume I – Brand-new concert film compilation from Oxford, Mississippi, featuring Shannon McNally, Cary Hudson, South Memphis String Band, Kenny Brown, Amy LaVere, Jimbo Mathus’s Mosquitoville and more.

Full Moon Lightnin’ – John Gardiner’s award-winning documentary offers two intertwining blues stories – one of NYC bluesman Floyd Lee’s return to his native Mississippi Delta and one of his guitarist Joel Poluck’s concurrent personal tragedies; partly shot in Clarksdale.

The Blues – Robert Gibbons’ amazing archival The Blues film comes to us via Canadian television circa 1966 and features rare interviews and performance by Mississippi natives Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Otis Span, Sunnyland Slim, Bukka White, Big Joe Williams and more.

One Night at Red’s – Clarksdale premiere! Mississippi Spoonman performs live at Clarksdale’s own legendary juke joint, Red’s Lounge, with special guest like Clarksdale’s Big Jack Johnson.

And in the main theater:

Down to the Crossroads: Volume I – Big Star Media presents blues-rocker George Thorogood and blues sax legend Eddie Shaw filmed live at Clarksdale’s own Ground Zero Blues Club by Vincent Productions; award-nominated film includes music and interviews. Filmmaker Q&A after.

Don’t Start Me Talkin’: The Junior Wells Story – Clarksdale premiere of Peter Carlson’s acclaimed film biography of one of the biggest names to every pick up the “Mississippi saxophone” (a.k.a. harmonica) – Junior Wells. Born in the South but made famous in the North, it’s the story of a man born into the blues.

M for Mississippi: A Road Trip through the Birthplace of the Blues – Filmed partly in Clarksdale, the award-winning M for Mississippi follows two blues fans on a fun and fantastic road trip to visit the region’s craziest bluesmen and juke joints.  Filmmaker Q&A after with Roger Stolle. Not to be missed!!

Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues – Legendary music filmmaker (Deep Blues, Blues Divas) Robert Mugge’s newest offering stars the Scissormen – a modern blues band based on tradition – as they play, tour and talk blues history.  Introduction/Q&A with Scissormen’s Ted Drozdowski.  A wonderful film and a fascinating introduction to these two unique musicians. See Saturdays activities for photos of these guys performing live at Cat Head.

Followed in the evening by a reception with wine and cheese and the music of Sean "Bad" Apple.

Sean 'Bad' Apple

And the film of the night:

Prom Night in Mississippi – Filmmakers Paul Saltzman and Patricia Aquino present the award-winning true story of actor Morgan Freeman’s offer to pay for Prom Night in Charleston, Mississippi.  There’s one hitch, though.  The historically separate white and black proms must integrate.  An interesting film that had a stimulating conversation both after the film with the film makers and with the film goers in the lobby afterwards. Although Morgan Freeman was in town the previous night at his restaurant he did not attend the screening.

SATURDAY

The schedule continued in Theater 1 with:

Barefoot Workshops: Clarksdale Retrospective, Part II – Retrospective of film shorts shot over the past few years continues… highlighting fascinating cultural aspects of Clarksdale / Coahoma County residents, businesses, blues music and history.

3 Film Shorts: Lukos (Michael Williams), Faithful Departed (Daniel Lee), Shudder House (Joey Dello Russo) – Three haunting film shorts in 45 frightful minutes, featuring strong Mississippi ties (filmmakers, locations and/or music).

Dedan le Sud de la Louisiane (In the South of Louisiana) – A Southern music movie classic by French filmmaker de Jean-Pierre Bruneau featuring a beautifully shot, travelogue study of Cajun music and culture, circa 1974.

The Story of Cotton – Willy Bearden and Deep Delta Films presents The Story of Cotton – a history forever tied the Delta and Deep South; documentary features archival photos, contemporary interviews and more. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

One Came Home – Clarksdale premiere of feature film by Mississippi-born Willy Bearden (shown here as part of a Bearden double-feature), One Came Home is a powerful drama full of love and lies set in Magnolia, Mississippi, circa 1946. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

The Blues – Encore presentation… Robert Gibbons’ amazing archival The Blues film comes to us via Canadian television circa 1966 and features rare interviews and performance by Mississippi natives Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Otis Span, Sunnyland Slim, Bukka White and more.

And in the main theater:

Let Your Feet Do the Talkin’ – Stewart Copeland’s deeply personal look at buckdancing legend Thomas Maupin – one of the South’s last, great old-time dancers.  (Presented in part by Dust-To-Digital.)

Smoke & Ears – Joe York’s film short about a Jackson, Mississippi, institution – the pig ear sandwiches at The Big Apple Inn.  (Presented in part by Scott Barretta.)

Hill Country Blues Picnic – Enjoy a sampling of Kenny Brown’s now-legendary Hill Country Blues Picnic, filmed in Potts Camp, Mississippi, and featuring several North Mississippi blues favorites.

Selections from Music in the Hall: Volume I – Encore presentation of a new concert film compilation from Oxford, Mississippi, featuring Shannon McNally, Cary Hudson, South Memphis String Band, Kenny Brown, Amy LaVere, Jimbo Mathus’s Mosquitoville and more.

Hard Times – A film by Damien Blaylock and Roger Stolle in which Big George Brock tells his fascinating “Mississippi blues gone North” story through archival photos, live blues performances and contemporary interviews; filmed partly in Clarksdale. Filmmaker Q&A after.

Blues: Mississippi’s Gift to the World – Clarksdale premiere of these wonderful film shorts courtesy of the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi.

Falsifyn’ – Greg Sabatino’s rollicking boogie-woogie piano film – shot at Clarksdale’s Ground Zero Blues Club and starring Jerry Lee Lewis, Pinetop Perkins, Marcia Ball and Henry Gray. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

The Best That Never Was – Jonathan Hock’s stirring story of Philadelphia, Mississippi’s football prodigy Marcus Dupree.  Using archival footage and contemporary interviews, The Best That Never Was tells a spine-tingling tale of triumph, failure and redemption.  (Recently part of ESPN’s acclaimed “30 For 30” series.)  Filmmaker introduction – plus a very special Q&A after featuring Best’s Director of Photography Alastair Christopher and the football star himself – Marcus Dupree.

Saturday also included a tour of "movie" Clarksdale narrated by local historian and author Robert Birdsong:

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Tom, as he was known then, moved to Clarksdale when he was 3. His maternal grandfather Walter Dakin, the family patriarch, became the rector of St. George's Episcopal Church for sixteen years. Clarksdale provided the tapestry of stories, characters and settings for some of Williams's most memorable plays. The wide green landscapes of the Delta that surround Clarksdale are described by Big Daddy in Cat as "the richest land this side of the Valley Nile". He spent many nights in this house, the rectory of the church:

Rectory is on the Right

Tom wasn't very athletic and to add to his misery his parent dressed him all in white with a blazer and short pants. This led to a memorable 'butt whuppin' he suffered in the yard of this house by the town bully who went on to become the sheriff:

Butt whoppin home...

Robert Birdsong reminded us however that the pen is mightier than the sword as Tennessee used him as the model for 'Brick' in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - a redneck, alcoholic, wife beater with homosexual tenancies.

Finally the tour took us by the Grange Cemetery and this remarkable statue on a grave:

The Angel From Summer & Smoke

Saturday afternoon we took in The Scissormen, the subject of the film, Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues, played an acoustic set at Cat Head. The guitar player, Ted Drozdowski, and his wife were staying at the Shack up INN. He and I spent a lovely sunny morning outside his shack just talkin' and hangin out.

Ted Drozdowski

He and his henchman, drummer Rob Hulsman, played several songs for an appreciative group at the Cat Head Shop. Ted brought out a one stringed guitar and got some pretty cool sounds out of it.

Ted and Rob Hulsman - The Scissormen

Every day of the festival included local restaurants who joined in and played films on their in house video screens that included everything from "The Shawshank Redemption" to "Field of Dreams" and of course "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". My favorite was "Watermelon Slim live at the Ground Zero Blues Club" that was played Saturday night at the Blueberry Cafe followed by a performance by Slim himself:

Owner of The Bluesberry Cafe and Friend

Slim brought the house down with his performance of "And When I die.." which he did with just his harmonica and doing a 'stomp' throughout. Here he is playing slide guitar:

Watermelon Slim - Highway 61

Sunday included some encores of films shown previously and more films at the restaurants. At the end of the 3 days we hated for it to be over! We left Clarksdale with many newly formed friendships and a desire to return soon. The organizers of the film festival intend for it to be an annual event and hopefully grow. If you enjoy film and blues music you really MUST come here next year for the second festival! Tel em' Blue Honey told you about it!

Joe/Dot

The Shack Up Inn - Clarksdale Mississippi

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge)

Would you shack up with this Guy?!

We did for 3 nights. That's Guy Malvezzi in the picture - loves to talk. He gave up the thrill packed day to day life of an owner of a chain of furniture stores to retire to the life of a carefree B&B (Bed and Beer) owner. Guy and his partner, Bill Talbot, run the most unique hotel you will ever stay at! The Shack Up Inn calls itself the first B&B in Mississippi. Located on Rt. 49 just outside of Clarksdale and about a mile from the Crossroads where Highway 61 and Rt 49 Intersect this one of a kind Hotel is on the grounds of the old Hopson Plantation.

The Commissary for the Hopson Plantation

The Red Headed Irish Girl and I went to Clarksdale for their first film festival (more on that in the next post). Several of the locals recommended the Shack Up Inn as the place to stay. We went there to stay for 1 night and stayed for 3 - we just couldn't leave. This place is a collage that hits you differently depending on where you look and how the sun shines and what your mood is - it's a picture that  you can sleep in! The owners have made this place a work of art as much as a hotel and it is beautiful to look at and inspiring and relaxing to stay in. The Shack Up and Cotton Gin Inn consists of rooms in the old cotton gin that are called the 'Bin' rooms because they are rooms made from closing off the old cotton gin bins.

The Cotton Gins

The Hopson plantation was the first place in the US to plant and harvest cotton entirely by machine. This cotton gin was a partnership between them and International Harvester that made the old labor intensive method of cottom farming obsolete and help set in motion the great migrations of Afro-Americans from the south to northern industrial cities looking for work......and they took the Blues with them.
The shacks are refurbished "shotgun" shacks that look dilapidated beyond belief from the outside but inside have been fitted out with comfortable and modern conveniences but retains the feel of an old cabin - as done by a movie set director. Some even have pianos in them if you feel like breaking out in song. Everyone we met while staying there was extremely friendly and it was a very diverse crowd: some guitar players from Nashville, a harmonica player from Arkansas, a baker from Jackson, a whole bunch of duck hunters and possibly a couple there for some "sneak" time.

The Shacks

The place even has its own stage where music takes place during the many festivals in Clarksdale and apparently whenever they might feel like it. Called the "Juke Joint Chapel" it really is an incredible 3d collage that you can walk around in and listen to music on the sound system (Blues of course!) or just meditate with a beer in one of the church pews. The chapel is an ongoing labor of love not to be missed - and they DO serve beer.

The Juke Joint Chapel

The Chapel Bar & Stage

If you don't need a fancy LCD TV (they have tv;s just not ones that take up all of your attention), or sleep in a room that looks like any other motel you have ever been in then this place is for you! They even have guitars in the lobby that you can borrow and take back to your room or sit on the porch for a little woodshedding - I highly recommend the Harmony! Like they say on their FAQ page "The Ritz we ain't" but if you are looking for relaxing get-a-way you cannot beat this place with a stick!

If you go be sure to say HEY to lovely Marc - and tell her Joe/Dot sent you.

Marc

For more infromation or to make reservations go to the web site for the Shack Up Inn: http://www.shackupinn.com/

Me & The Stick at The Lobby

Check back soon for the Film Festival, Blues Trail, and, of course, The Crossroads Entries (We DID find THE crossroads!) all coming within the week on Travels With Blue Honey 

Austin Texas

Let me first say that Texas is very odd....and very big....and very - different. There is incredible opulence in the housing tracts around the big cities. Starter castles here are BIGGER than any place else. Then you move to large ranches. And down the road from your large ranch is a shack that people live in that Appalachians wouldn't keep their pigeons in.

But they got a sense of humor:

I've seen people living in semi trailers parked on a lot like in Jamaica - though not usually with 30 people living in it - and double-wides on a lot with an old sharecroppers cottage falling down on it. Come to think of it there are a lot of old falling down buildings everywhere here - but they turn them into roadhouses (that specialize in either BBQ or Catfish), restaurants, flea markets, or bars. Outside of which there is usually a VERY BIG pickup truck or SUV.

Now that I am a Texan I feel I should get a saddle and a big hat. Maybe develop a drawl - y'all. To further my education in being a Texan it seemed wise to visit the Capitol - Austin. Austin's motto is

 (I kid you not) : Keep Austin Weird . That alone was enough to make me go there. The problem was Austin is the only place I have been in Texas that seems normal. It's the rest of Texas that appears to be caught in a warp world somewhere.

That said we were impossibly lucky in being able to visit the lovely and talented Evelyn Burns and her equally lovely and talented husband Bob and their 4 cats. 

They graciously showed us around and saw to it that we got to as many of the highlights of Austin that we could. Bob is an executive chef and made certain that we had some mighty fine eats too. We took in the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar and saw some of the terrific art talent in Texas all displayed together and on sale for Christmas. The Red Headed Irish Girl and I cleverly snuck around and acquired Christmas Gifts for each other and family. Each day during the Bazaar musicians with Austin connections played several sets. Different acts performed throughout the day. We were lucky and got to see Sahara Smith:

perform in a small and intimate setting. We bought her Cd afterwards and she autographed it for us.

She writes grown up lyrics and sings in a style reminiscent of Joni Mitchell but yet all her own. She is highly recommended! 

Notable among the many artists were:

Richards Kunkel:

Richard produces sculptures cast from molds he finds or makes. Everything he had in his booth was based on a Beatles song or lyric. They were all amazing. Find more of him at:

Wild Flower Pottery Studios.

Also notable were:

Texas Montage Series from Carl & Elisabeth Crum. They are photographers and film makers who had some wonderful photo montage's for sale of the Austin area. They were cut out and collage together to appear 3 dimensional. Though I didn't get to meet Carl, Elisabeth spent several minutes talking with us about their work and encouraging the ontheroadphoto trip. Check out the montages if you are looking for some really unique wall hangings.

Bungled Jungle from Pat Landreth & Suzanne Montano. There is really no way to describe these things. Sculptures from a "paper mache - like process" of strange beasts that have never existed in nature. They are wonderfully imaginative mobiles, statues, and various other kinds of sculptures. Scary and funny they remind of some of the best 60's cartoons come alive!

The next day we made a trip to pay our respects to the Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue by the river (though they call it a Lake - WTF?):

That's him casting his giant shadow all over Austin and the music world. How much of sin is it that he isn't in the R&R Hall of Fame? Aside from my belief that you cannot institutionalize anarchy (which is what R&R is) I will never even consider setting foot in that place until they have admitted SRV. Course he won't be able to play at the 'jam' maybe that why they don't consider him. The R&R HOF is a sick joke.

Later Evelyn took us to Muller's BBQ for what Bob considers the best BBQ he has tasted. This was the place that SRV and his brother Jimmy shot the poster for 'Family Style' at and they have a copy of the poster framed and mounted to the wall next to the largest collection of business cards I have ever seen. Yes I added the ontheroadphoto card to it!

Lower right hand corner of the bulletin board 3d up from the bottom. Wishin I had taken the photo of the Vaughn brothers. Texas BBQ is not like the BBQ I am used to where the sauce is the key. Texas BBQ is cooked for a long period in a smoke house and covered in spices and whatever (the rub) and the meat is the thing. Sauce don't matter. With that in mind this WAS the best BBQ I have ever tasted. The meat was incredible and unbelievably tender and tasty. You mustn't miss this if you ever get to the Austin area!

Adhering to the "Keep Austin Weird" mantra the people of Congress Ave. appear to be locked into a state of mind. Where else would you find a cowboy riding a Bunny Rabbit:

Or a costume shop with a 12 foot tall statue of a Zebra dressed as Carmen Miranda:

Or a taco stand as a shrine to Maria:

And of course the Austin Motel celebrating....a finger? or a ...well...the obvious?

I'm pretty sure I smelled the distinct aroma of Herb on the streets...or maybe they don't really need it.

Austin is a place to come back to.