Mississippi Night At The Grammy Museum | Jan. 28th 2010
MISSISSIPPI NIGHT AT THE GRAMMY M– — USEUM®
CELEBRATES STATE’S LEGACY WITH PERFORMANCE PROGRAM TOPPED BY DOROTHY MOORE, THE WILLIAMS BROTHERS, EDDIE COTTON, HUBERT SUMLIN AND HONEYBOY EDWARDS
The State of Mississippi’s continuing “Birthplace of America’s Music” campaign gets a big boost next week with Mississippi Night at the GRAMMY Museum® in Los Angeles. The evening of Thursday, January 28th is a preamble to Sunday’s GRAMMY® Award ceremonies, and will be highlighted by a program featuring performances from some of the state’s brightest musical lights, a reflection of the great diversity of Mississippi music. Earlier in the day, Mississippians will take part in an educational program for the benefit of visiting Los Angeles high school students.
For the past three years, Mississippi has presented performance galas,hosted by Governor Haley Barbour, that have underscored the fact that Mississippi artists have been disproportionately represented among GRAMMY nominees and winners spread out over a wide variety ofcategories. This year’s Mississippi Celebrates Its GRAMMY Legacy gala will take place May 27th at Biloxi’s Hard Rock Casino. Updates are posted regularly at www.msgrammy.com Peavey Electronics, based in Meridian, MS and The Mississippi Development Authority, have sponsored those events and are, similarly, supporting next week’s GRAMMY Museum program.
The artists participating in Mississippi Night at the GRAMMY Museum underscore the broad spectrum of Mississippi’s musical legacy. They include four-time GRAMMY nominee Dorothy Moore whose smash hit “Misty Blue” is today considered a standard of both the pop and R&B genres. Also appearing are The Williams Brothers who are 2010 GRAMMY nominees in the Best Traditional Gospel album category for The Journey Continues…, the fourth GRAMMY nomination in a career that spans 40 years.
Mississippi’s blues heritage will be showcased with a performance by young Jackson-based blazing blues vocalist/guitarist Eddie Cotton who will be joined by the legendary Hubert Sumlin. Sumlin is the first generation Chicago electric blues guitarist who served in both the Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf bands. Born in Greenwood, MS Sumlin is considered a huge influence on a wide-range of guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix,and is a past GRAMMY nominee. Also part of the blues segment of the program is David “Honeyboy” Edwards, the 94-year-old blues icon from Shaw, MS who was first recorded by Alan Lomax in 1942 for the Library of Congress. Edwards is, in fact, a GRAMMY Award winner in his own right, having won in the Traditional Blues category in 2009. This year Honeyboy Edwards, along with Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, Michael Jackson, Loretta Lynn, André Previn and Clark Terry, will be the recipient of the Recording Academy’s® Lifetime Achievement Award.
Governor Barbour, commenting on his state’s campaign to highlight its musical contribution to the world, noted, ‘’From Elvis to B.B. King to Leontyne Price to Faith Hill, we cover the gamut: rock, gospel, country, blues,soul, opera; if it’s music, it’s Mississippi, and that’s a big source of pride for us.”
The evening’s events kick off at 6 PM with a reception followed by the musical performances in the Museum’s GRAMMY Sound Stage. Earlier in the day, Los Angeles area high school students will spend time with Peavey Electronics founder Hartley Peavey to discuss career opportunities in music and allied industries. Ward Emling, Director of Mississippi’s Film Office, and filmmaker Lynn Orman are slated to discuss filmmaking in Mississippi and will host screenings of Six Generations of The Blues, a documentary film produced by Front Row Music Television tracing the roots of Chicago blues back to Mississippi featuring Honeyboy Edwards, on both Tuesday, January 26th, and Thursday, January 28th.
Jon Hornyak, Senior Executive Director of The Recording Academy® Memphis Chapter that encompasses members residing in Mississippi commented, “With more than forty GRAMMY Award winners in a wide variety of genres, the state’s incredible influence is undeniable. Mississippi’s program at The GRAMMY Museum will, we’re sure, confirm this fact in a very real way.”
About the sponsors
Event co-sponsor Peavey Electronics was founded in 1965 by Hartley Peavey who, the year prior to the first GRAMMY Award, built his first amplifier in the basement of his family’s home in Meridian, Mississippi. Today, Peavey is still based in Meridian but does business in 136 countries through 33 facilities — most of which are in Mississippi — and leads the industry in patents and innovations. Justas Mississippi bluesmen and early rock and rollers inspired Hartley Peavey to pursue his music dreams, so do his musical instruments and sound equipment continue to inspire musicians around the world. It is safe to suggest that virtually every GRAMMY nominee and winner has used Peavey products on stages and in studios over the course of the past 50years. www.peavey.com
The Mississippi Development Authority is the State of Mississippi’s lead economic and community development agency. More than 250 employees are engaged in providing services to businesses, communities and workers in the state. The MDA’s Economic Development Group focuses its efforts in traditional business recruitment and retention,community development, tourism development and export development while it’s Asset Development Group pursues innovative ways to develop unique Mississippi assets such as cultural heritage, natural resources and small town life styles. www.mississippi.org www.visitmississippi.org