Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features in Clarksdale Developments/Events Involving “Longer-Term” Residents • Alcazar Hotel re-development – Bill Luckett, Charles Evans, others. The Alcazar is Clarksdale’s grand hotel comprising four levels, vacant for many years and now under-going renewal and refurbishment. • Birdsong Tours – Robert Birdsong. Tours of the downtown and the rural areas, steeped in local history and stories. Birdsong will “custom-­ make” tours to suit a wide range of interests. • Bluestown Inn – accommodation for visitors, located in Third Street • Bluestown Music and Studio 61 Recording – Ronnie Drew. Music instruments and studio with Ronnie playing guitar in local venues and at Hopson’s. Ronnie’s son, Marshall Drew, is a popular folk-rock singer/songwriter around town and also teaches guitar for the Delta Blues Education Project. • Club 2000 – a juke joint located in Issaquena Avenue in the New World © The Author(s) 2019 201 J. C. Henshall, Downtown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2107-8 202 Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features… • Cutrer Mansion – former home of the Cutrer family (Blanche Cutrer was the daughter of Clarksdale’s founder, John Clark). Now the loca- tion for the Coahoma County Higher Education Centre, and used for a range of higher education and community activities • Delta Blues Alley – a juke joint located in Delta Avenue • Delta Blues Museum – local government and community supported, with Shelley Ritter as Director. Now well-established at the former railway freight building, and with expansion of the museum recently achieved • Delta Bohemian Guest House and the White House – established by Billy Howell and Madge Marley Howell, located in West Second Street, providing accommodation for visitors • Delta Bohemian Tours – established by Billy Howell, providing per- sonally guided tours around the Delta • Delta Cotton Company – Bill Luckett, Morgan Freeman and Howard Stovall. Loft-style apartments above Ground Zero Blues Club • Greyhound Bus Depot – the historic bus station was restored by the Coahoma County Board of Supervisors and used as a venue for commu- nity meetings and exhibitions. For a period of time it was also used as a non-profit “Information Station” set-up and operated by ‘Bubba’ O’Keefe. • Ground Zero Blues Club – Bill Luckett, Morgan Freeman and Howard Stovall. A former cotton-grading warehouse, the building was re-­birthed as a venue for live blues music, including food and bar. • Hopson’s Commissary – James Butler. Former commissary for Hopson’s Plantation on Highway 49, five kilometres south of Clarksdale, now operating as a music venue and bar. Site of the first mechanisation of cotton plantations introduced in 1944 • Juke Joint Festival (held annually in April) – Downtown Development Association LLC. Commenced in 2004 as a combina- tion of “small-town fair” in the daytime (about 100 vendors line the downtown streets) and juke joint festival at night. A US$20 wrist band ensures access to the 20 or so juke joints, GZBC and shuttle bus. • Lambfish Art Company – Joey Young. Potter and painter, Joey re-­ settled in Clarksdale, drawn by the town’s creativity and links with music and culture. Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features… 203 • The Lofts at the Five and Dime – Kinchen “Bubba” O’Keefe Jr. and Jack Denton Modern loft-style apartments located above Yazoo Pass restaurant/café (former Woolworth Five and Dime store) • Messenger’s Poolhall – Long-established and popular juke joint and poolhall in Martin Luther King Jnr Street • Nan Hughes – responsible for the organisation and promotion of the annual Juke Joint Festival (with Roger Stolle and committee) • Our Grandma’s House of Pancakes and Bar – established 2016 in Third Street by Carl Davis • Pete’s Grill – in Sunflower Avenue, an establishment which operates mainly during festivals • Red’s Lounge – Red Paden. Long-established juke joint in Sunflower Avenue, and popular venue for Delta blues musicians and music lovers • Richard Bolen – involved in researching, preparing and erecting sig- nage on downtown streets depicting well-known local musicians, civil rights activitists, educators, community advocates, and athletes. Also responsible for web design and content promoting Clarksdale • Riverside Hotel – Ratliff family, proprietor. Located in Sunflower Avenue, this former African American hospital (blues/jazz singer Betty Smith died here in 1937 after a road accident) was converted to a hotel in 1944, and has been host to many Blues musicians since that time. • Shack Up Inn and Cotton Gin Inn – Bill Talbot and Guy Malvezzi. Located five kilometres south of Clarksdale on Highway 49. Former cotton plantation buildings and sharecropper shacks refurbished as visitor accommodation, and with music venue (“the Chapel”) and souvenir shop • Stone Pony Pizza Restaurant and Bar – Buddy Bass and Joe Weiss, long-term residents of Clarksdale. A downtown restaurant popular with families (especially), and a popular bar in the evenings • The Bank – former Bank of Clarksdale and more recently offices for Clarksdale Press Register, and now a function/catering venue. Owned and restored by Kinchen “Bubba” O’Keefe • Travelers Hotel – renovation and refurbishment of the former Webster’s Building at 212 Third Street, Clarksdale, by Kinchen “Bubba” O’Keefe and Chuck Rutledge for the Coahoma Collective 204 Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features… • WROX radio station – owned by Kinchen “Bubba” O’Keefe. Original radio station where Ike Turner, Elvis and many other musicians were guests, and where Early Wright was the longest-running DJ for some 50 years • Yazoo Pass – John and Robin Cocke and Mary Tenhet. Established in mid-2011 as an espresso bar, bistro, and bakery located on the ground floor of the Woolworth building in Yazoo Avenue (restored by “Bubba” O’Keefe, with visitor accommodation at the Lofts, above) • Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival (held annually in August) – Commenced in 1988 and now a major event on the blues music circuit, and still “free” to the community and visitors • Tennessee Williams Festival (held annually in late September or early October) – community-supported, with Panny Mayfield as one of the long-time organisers. A literary festival, with plays performed on the porches of historic homes and at Cutrer Mansion, and other cele- bratory events • Pinetop Perkins Homecoming (held annually in October) – James Butler at Hopson’s. A music night in celebration of Clarksdale’s Pinetop Perkins, a Clarksdale-born blues musician and a former worker on Hopson’s Plantation. Pinetop passed away in March 2011 at 97 years of age Developments/Events Involving “Newcomers” • Bluesberry Café – Art and Carol Crivaro (Florida). Café and blues venue, and wholesale bakery products. Regular venue for Super Chikan, Delta-born musician and guitar-maker, and blues musician Watermelon Slim (Oklahoma). • Blues Hound Flat – visitor accommodation located in Issaquena Avenue, with owners Sherry Henson and Norman Adcox from Memphis. • Cat Head Blues Music, Folk Art and Books – Roger Stolle (St Louis). Former marketing executive, established Cat Head in 2002 and repre- sents Delta blues musicians, bringing their live music to fans from Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features… 205 beyond Clarksdale and abroad. Publisher, writer (“Blues Access”), radio presenter, and documentary producer (“M for Mississippi” with co-producer Jeff Konkel). • The Clark House Residential Inn – Charles Evans (California). Purchased and restored as a residential inn by Charles, a property developer from Santa Rosa, CA. The Clark House, located in Clark Street, is the original home built in 1859 by Clarksdale’s founder, John Clark. • Coahoma Collective – a creative “place-making effort” involving live/ work spaces for creative individuals who work part-time in the seed store and at The Travelers Hotel. Ann Williams is Executive Director, and is from New Orleans. • Clarksdale House Party – This radio show, under the promotion of Gary Vincent, is held at the Clarksdale Sound Stage on a regular basis through the year to highlight local and visiting musicians, with live taping for airing on XRDS.fm radio, as well as filming. • Clarksdale Sound Stage – Gary Vincent, singer-songwriter, musician and producer from Nashville. • Deak Harp’s Mississippi Saxophone Shop – located on Third Street, owned and operated by musician Deak Harp from around 2015. Deak sells his custom-made harmonicas, along with other Blues souvenirs. Deak is from New Jersey, via Illinois. • Delta Digs, The Squeeze Box, and Hooker Hotel – small, uniquely decorated one and two-bedroom accommodations for visitors, estab- lished by Mark Benson from Franklin, Tennessee and with interior décor by John Magnusson formerly of New Jersey. • Hambone Art Gallery – Stan Street (Rochester NY and Florida). Stan (painter and musician) established Hambone Gallery with Dixie Swearingen (musician). The Hambone is also the venue for Tuesday and Thursday Night jam sessions and the annual Hambone Music Festival (October). • Hooker Grocery & Eatery – a cafe and venue combined with fresh food market. Established and operated by Johnny Cass, chef and musi- cian, from Sydney. 206 Appendix: Blues and Culture-Related Businesses and Features… • Levon’s Bar & Grill – a restaurant and bar owned and operated by Naomi Gapes from Sydney, Australia and accommodated in premises