THURSDAY JUNE 04, 2026 THE CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL AT RAMOVA THEATRE

PANEL DISCUSSION

20 Years of the Mississippi Blues Trail–Fireside Chat with Mayor John Horhn, Scott Barretta, Bill Mc Pherson, Dr. Edgar Smith, and Jim O’Neal

Moderated by Yolonda Clay-Moore,Visit Jackson

6-7 p.m.The Mississippi Blues Trail has been an invaluable guide to finding the people and places that shaped the music in this state and which, in turn, influenced the world. This panel will discuss its origins and impact. The experts include Jackson, Miss., Mayor John Horhn; sociology / anthropology professor and blues journalist Scott Barretta; B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretative Center chair Bill McPherson; Mississippi Blues Commission’s Blues Musicians Benevolent Fund chair Dr. Edgar Smith; and Living Blues magazine co-founder Jim O’Neal. [Aaron Cohen]

8:45-10:15 p.m. Willie Clayton When Willie Clayton wraps his honey-and-molasses croon around a ballad like “Don’t Make Me Beg” or his beloved 2005 classic “I Love Me Some You,” he can melt hearts with seductive ease;  then, when he ramps up the energy with a good-time throwdown like his 2023 trail-ride anthem “Boot Scoot Dance,” he can make us feel as if the party will never end. Clayton’s first recordings, in the mid-1970s,  were on Willie Mitchell’s Pawn label; his discography since then has grown to include over 85 releases – both singles and albums – and although he has come to largely embrace the high-tech studio slickness that characterizes modern-day soul and R&B, his rich baritone vocals convey a blend of sensitivity and sexiness that makes it clear that the soul singer who calls himself the “Last Man Standing” continues to stand as an exemplar of the music he has embraced as his own, and which he carries into the future.  [David Whiteis]

7:15-8:30 p.m. John Primer–Tribute to Theresa’s Lounge John Primer, internationally feted as one of the leading carriers of the Chicago blues torch, has worked with such greats as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Magic Slim. Primer cut his teeth at Theresa’s Lounge on S. Indiana Ave., where he was a house guitarist alongside Muddy Waters’ former fretman Sammy Lawhorn, backing stars like Junior Wells, James Cotton, and Buddy Guy. The eclectic sets at Theresa’s honed his quick-minded improvisational flair and helped him cultivate a seemingly bottomless repertoire, and today his performances are among the tightest and most musically exciting in blues. With more than 20 albums to his credit, Primer continues to exult in his undiminished passion for the music he loves; here he’ll be accompanied by some of his old-time Theresa’s Lounge compatriots to recreate the raucous good-time atmosphere that made T’s a mecca for blues lovers for decades. [DW]