October 6–16, 2020 TRAIL TOUR ITINERARY (Destinations are confirmed, though specific activities mentioned here are subject to change)

DAY ONE. We'll meet this morning at the Memphis International Airport, board our Blues Trail Bus, and head into the city for a walking tour of , Handy Park, and the Peabody Hotel, site of some of the most influential recording sessions in roots music history. After checking into our hotel, we’ll gather for an opening night dinner.

DAY TWO. After breakfast we’ll head for Mississippi Hill Country, with stops along the way to meet some local musicians. Then it’s on to Tupelo, birthplace of , before settling in at our hotel in Oxford.

DAY THREE. Home to the University of Mississippi and its Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Oxford is a place of learning, literature, and an urbane lifestyle. Staff members at the Center will help prepare us for our immersion in the Delta, followed by an afternoon visit to the home of Nobel novelist William Faulkner. Dinner is on your own and the evening features the first of three blues guitar workshops with Steve James.

DAY FOUR. We say goodbye to Oxford and visit historic Clarksdale before heading for Greenwood, where enough of the old downtown exists to get an idea of what it was like when the town was a blues guitar mecca in the ’30’s for the likes of Johnny Temple, , and , who is buried nearby. We’ll visit the Blues Heritage Museum and Mississippi John Hurt’s home before checking into our hotel and enjoying the local live music scene.

DAY FIVE. It's less than two hours to Jackson, Mississippi's capital and largest city and home to 14 of the 206 markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail, the most of any location. (Clarksdale with 11 and Greenwood with 8 rank 2nd and 3rd.) We'll visit the homes of Pulitzer Prize novelist Eudora Welty and civil rights martyr Medgar Evers, as well as Jackson's historic downtown. The day closes with the second Steve James guitar workshop.

DAY SIX. Today we head into the heart of Cajun Country. After a lunch stop and a walk around Natchez on the eastern bank of the Mississippi we'll arrive late in the day in Lafayette, , a bustling and gracious city known for its cuisine and nightlife.

DAY SEVEN. Ready for a day free of schedules, bus rides, and group meals? We thought so. Lafayette offers plenty to do, see, hear, eat, and drink! And then there’s the laundry … Steve James will give his third and final guitar workshop tonight.

DAY EIGHT. After breakfast, we head through Cajun country, starting in nearby Opelousas, home to Clifton Chenier and the Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival, and then a short drive to Eunice, home of the Savoy Family and the Savoy Music Center, where Mark Savoy builds his heralded accordions. We'll have an informal session with Joel Savoy on the roots and practices of zydeco before heading back to Lafayette for the night.

DAY NINE. This morning we’ll visit Avery Island, home of the McIlhenny Family’s Tabasco Sauce empire, for a tour of the factory and lunch. We’ll reach New Orleans in time for a visit to the New Orleans Museum located in the former U.S. Mint at the edge of the French Quarter. Then on to our hotel and an evening of live music at one or more of the city’s famed nightspots.

DAY TEN. After a morning walking tour of the Garden District, we’ll take a tour of Tulane University’s Hogan Jazz Archive, the leading research center for the study of New Orleans jazz and related musical genres, including ragtime, gospel, blues, , and Creole songs. Our final tour day concludes with a farewell dinner and private concert, where Steve James will share the stage with local musicians and special guests.

DAY ELEVEN. After breakfast at our hotel, we’ll bid farewell as the bus leaves us at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. It may be the end of this tour, but it’s just the start of new friendships, new knowledge, and a trove of musical experiences to inspire us in the coming months and years.