Delta Symposium XVII closes with Roots Music Festival April 9
ASU - Jonesboro: Delta Symposium XVII closes with Roots Music Festival April 9
Radio station KASU 91.9 FM and the Arkansas Folklife Program are teaming up with
Arkansas State University's Department of English and Philosophy to present a Roots
Music Festival on April 9, from 1-5 p.m. at Heritage Plaza, on the east side of ASU's
Reng Student Services Center/Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road. This final public
event of Delta Symposium XVII: The Delta in Print, Image, and Sound will feature an
array of music including blues, jazz, and rockabilly. In case of rain, the festival will move
into the ASU Student Union auditorium.
Hairy Larry, aka Larry Heyl, will open the show. A native of Chicago where he
frequented the legendary blues clubs of that city, Heyl came to the Delta in the 1970s
where his harmonica, guitar, and good-time vocals, as well as his tireless enthusiasm,
made him a fixture on the northeast Arkansas blues scene. He hosts the radio program
"Something Blue" heard Saturday nights on KASU.
The Jess Hoggard Band features the blues talents of namesake Jess Hoggard whose
musical résumé includes playing rhythm and lead guitar with Mark Sallings in The
Famous Unknowns, the first house band to play at B.B. King's nightspot in Memphis.
Sonny Burgess and the legendary Pacers have been prime purveyors of Arkansas Delta
rockabilly for more than fifty years. A native of Newport, Burgess recorded for the
legendary Sun label in Memphis, shared club dates with Elvis, is a member of the
Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and co-hosts a weekly program, "We Wanna Boogie" on KASU
with June Taylor between his national and international performances.
Reba Russell is an internationally known blues diva and has been called a Memphis
treasure. Her band has developed a large, loyal fan base in Memphis due to her
show-stopping nightclub gigs on Beale Street, and she has fans around the world as a
result of her European tours and festival appearances. She has recently been
nominated for the Koko Taylor Award for traditional female blues vocals.
The Delta Symposium has been coordinated through ASU's English and Philosophy
Department for the past seventeen years. The Roots Music Festival is the culminating
event of the symposium. For more information, contact symposium co-chair Dr. Gregory
Hansen (ghansen@astate.edu), Department of English and Philosophy, at (870)
972-3043, visit the website http://altweb.astate.edu/blues/, or see ASU's NewsPage
releases at http://www.astate.edu/a/asunews/.
