This year's event is dedicated with great respect to Jessie Mae Hemphill. Certainly one of the most unique sounds in blues in the last decade has been that of Jessie Mae. There are few enough women blues singers today with original compositions. While her songs avoid the standard twelve-bar structures, her music has a strange contemporary quality to it. Unfortunately, earlier this year Jessie Mae suffered a stroke and has lost some of her ability to play. With great honor, we dedicate The Second Mississippi Crossroads Festival to her.


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