Alexandra Watts

Report for America

GREENVILLE, Miss. — I recently moved to the heart and soul of the Mississippi Delta, the birthplace of the blues. Signs of this rich music heritage are all around me in this part of the state — the town where B.B. King was born, the railroad station where “Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy first heard the blues and, perhaps most famously, “The Crossroads.”

This crossroads is not just any intersection. Legend has it that blues musician Robert Johnson came to this place where Highway 61 and Highway 49 meet and sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar — and that it inspired his famous song “Cross Road Blues.”

“I went to the crossroad / fell down on my knees Asked the Lord above / ‘Have mercy, now, save poor Bob if you please.’”

The deal with the devil is a legend, but it’s fact that without Robert Johnson, you would likely have no Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan or any other musician who can trace their musical roots back to the blues.

Some aren’t as easily convinced as I am that one genre emerging out of Mississippi changed music forever — including a group of preteens who like to ask me whether I’m sure it actually influenced everything.

It’s the middle of the week and, yet again, I am facing their skepticism.

Like life, blues music is hands-on

I volunteer in a summer and after-school program for kids called Greenville Renaissance Scholars. As part of the program, I’m helping a handful of them make a documentary film and play about the impacts and influences of blues and civil rights in Greenville. Three-quarters of the kids are considered “at risk"; in Washington County, where the program takes place, 45% of children live in poverty — much higher than the Mississippi average. They are also typical students on the brink of middle school — they like TikTok, video games and memes and, like most their age, they do not listen to the blues.

The Greenville Renaissance Scholars’ leader, Jon Delperdang, is also there to help the students, but it’s the students’ creativity that leads the way. The projects are all about making learning "hands-on,” he says.

I’m helping the students to learn to craft the perfect interview questions and how to film interviews. One day, for example, to illustrate the "Rule of Thirds" technique for visuals, the students took photos of each other and had the chance to frame their own shots.

When you live in the Mississippi Delta, it’s easy to be hands-on with the blues. But even though the blues genre is influential, it has never gotten its full due. Blues musicians did not live or die like rock stars. Most of their influence was recognized years if not decades later, with The Rolling Stones taking their name from a song by musician Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton taking inspiration from Robert Johnson.

The sounds of the Delta were the foundation for their music. But Johnson died at just age 27, years before Clapton was born and without a fraction of the awards, acclaim or wealth of many musicians who came after him.

Even back in the 1950s, when some of the popular blues legends were recording, most people are (and remain) more familiar with Elvis Presley’s "Hound Dog" than the original by Big Mama Thornton. With the Renaissance Scholars, I try to counter that underappreciation by showing the genre’s ties to many of their favorite musicians.

For one student who is a fan of the contemporary rock band Paramore, I point out that the group's influences can be tracked back to the blues. Lead singer Hayley Williams cites New York punk rockers The Ramones as inspiration. The Ramones were influenced by British Invasion rock group The Troggs, best known for their song “Wild Thing.” Like nearly every British band recording in the 1960s, The Troggs were influenced by the blues.

Blues can be heard today in lyrics that expose pain or the call-and-response patterns associated with the genre. But not all blues influences are created equal, and it’s easier to hear in some more than others.

The blues' tradition of honesty

To know the blues, though, you have to know the history of the Mississippi Delta. For example, the song “When the Levee Breaks,” first recorded in 1929 by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie but later made famous by Led Zeppelin, tells the story of the 1927 floods in Greenville. The floods left homes and people underwater, and black residents were forced to work and die in dangerous conditions.

“If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break / And the water gonna come in, we’ll have no place to stay.”

And in “Parchman Farm” by Bukka White, it’s easy to feel the pain of prisoners who suffered from Jim Crow racism and the infamous chain gangs as he's pleading:

“Judge gimme me life this morn'in. ... I wouldn't hate it so bad / But I left my wife in mournin' "

The blues allows for expression and documentation, which are what the students are doing.

With the Greenville Renaissance Scholars program, the students have touched on everything from cultural appropriation to the impacts of slavery. The topics are very real. The projects are a way for students to feel a connection to where they live. Young people are leaving the Delta for opportunities elsewhere, but this program gives students a chance to see the beauty and culture of their hometown.

“We want them to have a strong reason to stay,” Delperdang says. “We try and get students to try and see the positive aspects of their community while also challenging the community to provide more opportunities for students.”

When I started volunteering with the program, I thought I would have a bunch of students who could quote the blues by the end of the school year. And, yes, they’ve learned a fair amount.

But it’s the tradition of expression and honesty that makes blues special. Seeing a group of young, black students talk honestly and openly about their everyday lives shows they are getting something from blues music — something that maybe only the music can teach.

Maybe one day, they will embrace blues music a little bit more. But the realness and the storytelling found in Delta art can be found in different places — from music of the 20th century to even a modern-day film and play created by middle schoolers.

Alexandra Watts is a Report for America corps member, covering the Mississippi Delta for Mississippi Public Broadcasting. This essay is part of series called “On the Ground,” supported by The GroundTruth Project. Follow her on Twitter: @alexandrawatts_