Holly Springs, Mississippi

BoP_Logo_Blue_outlined_reversed

  • 00Days
  • 00Hours
  • 00Minutes till Duwayne Burnside!

“If you don’t know the blues… there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll
or any other form of popular music.”

-Keith Richards

Big News!!

Our inaugural 2022 season was fantastic! It is with grateful hearts that we announce our Season Two lineup. It’s going to be a summer full of the Best blues music!
Good news – Blues on the Porch is now a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Any funds we raise will go to the musicians,  equipment and promotion. We hope you consider supporting our mission. For more information, please contact us at bluesontheporch@gmail.com. Thanks!!

the reason

A lot of life happens on a porch…meals, celebrations, family times, flirtations, breakups. Where there’s life, there’s the Blues.

North Mississippi is home to the legendary Hill Country Blues. Over dinner in early 2020 (the BeforeTimes), Dave, Pam, Mike and Lisa decided it would be fun to combine their love of porches with their love of local blues by hosting concerts. They asked their neighbors to join in, asked some local blues musicians to play and boom — Blues on the Porch was born.

Holly Springs has a rich heritage of food, music, historic homes and Southern hospitality. Our musicians have a worldwide following, and we’re happy to give them a porch and an audience at home.

the lineup

All concerts are in Holly Springs, free and open to the public.

Gates open at 7:00 pm, music is 7:30-8:30 pm, gates close at 9:00 pm.

  • Bring lawn chairs or blankets. Coolers are welcome, please properly dispose of your trash.
  • Important!! Bring cash for the performers – we will pass the hat during the concert. 
  • The porches are open but the houses are not, so restrooms may not be available.
  • We want everyone to enjoy the evening – attendees, homeowners, neighbors. Be respectful of place and people.

Date | Musician | Porch

NEW DATE!! Sunday, April 24, 2022

Duwayne Burnside — https://www.facebook.com/duwayneburnsidemusic/

Live Oaks

Mike & Lisa McCarter

217 Craft Street

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Lightnin Malcolm — https://lightninmalcolm.com/

Burton Place

Walt Henley

248 S. Memphis Street

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Kenny Brown — https://www.kennybrownmusic.com

Hilltop

Dave & Pam Zelman

180 E. Park Avenue

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Robert Kimbrough, Sr. — https://robertkimbroughsr.com/

Rutledge

Tim & Lisa Liddy

145 W. Gholson Avenue

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Lady Trucker and the Headcutter Band 

With special guest Brackish Water

Gates open at 6:30, music begins at 7:00!

Hamilton Place

Jimmy & Angel Holt

105 E. Mason Avenue

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Memphissippi Sounds —

https://www.memphissippisounds.com/home

The Magnolias

Genevieve Busby

305 Craft Street

Thanks to the talented Deke Rivers for the performer photos! (all images ©Deke Rivers except Memphissippi Sounds)

Gallery

Garry Burnside, 2021                                                                                                                                                                                  All photos courtesy of event hosts

Plenty of room
Appreciative crowd!
Still playing into the night
Great house, great porch

Kenny Brown, 2021                                                                                                                                   All photos courtesy of Dave Zelman and BackRoadsMiss.

tuning up
Kenny & Pam before the show.
The crowd starts to get settled.
Dave and Pam introduce the series and Kenny.
Street was blocked so people could safely sit in the street.
It was a beautiful night for a concert!
People kept coming!
What a great crowd!
Kenny, solo.
Great music and a great sunset!
Porches were made for stuff like this.
Through the magnolias
Evening shot
Playing at sunset.
Kenny and his well-loved guitar
Resources

Here is an ever-growing list of resources on the blues from Mississippi Hill Country and beyond.

Mississippi Blues Trail — http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/hill-country-blues

A short but well-referenced Wikipedia article — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_country_blues

A quick article in Masterclass — https://www.masterclass.com/articles/hill-country-blues-music-guide#5-influential-hill-country-blues-artists

A great sampling of Hill Country music from 1953-1981 — https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/Hill+Country+Blues/

A Roots Radio article about a documentary of Hill Country Blues — https://www.wmot.org/post/fred-mcdowell-doc-reveals-origins-north-mississippi-hill-country-blues#stream/0

Technically a guitar lesson, it’s a great sampler of Hill Country Blues guitar styles — https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/29720-dive-into-the-deep-blues-of-the-north-mississippi-hill-country

Other Hill country blues concerts

  • North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic

    Keepin’ the down home alive and Well, Well, Well, the goal of the Picnic is to enhance appreciation and educate the general public about the native art form of North Mississippi Hill Country blues music through performance, preservation, and interpretation. Now in our 17th year, we hope you can join us June 24-25, 2022 for the Hill Country Picnic, a weekend filled with Hill Country Blues. Details and tickets available at www.nmshillcountrypicnic.com.