Music and the Crossroads

Music scholar, author, and University of Mississippi instructor Scott Barretta will present on the Delta blues, detailing how the tradition engages themes of death and the spirit world. Barretta will share his deep knowledge of well-known blues lore, such as the tale of Robert Johnson, in addition to other lesser-known connections between blues music and the dark and fatal regional history of social, racial, and economic strife. 

Accompanying Barretta is Greenville, Mississippi blues musician Rob Mortimer of Good Paper of Rev. Rob Mortimer, who is also a reverend and an undertaker. When he is not performing, Mortimer serves as president of Mortimer Funeral Home, where he operates the hearse.

This program is financially assisted by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Mississippi Humanities Council. 

Pre-registration is required through RSVP.