Growing up in Itawamba County, Mississippi, Victoria Cummings-Bobo learned from her Granny the value of making beautiful objects out of repurposed materials. Cummings-Bobo recalls that her Granny built small pieces of furniture, like stools: “She built them herself, with little pieces of wood that she would find outside that someone might have thrown away. She […]
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As the population of Latin Americans continues to grow in North Mississippi, parishioners at St. James Catholic Church in Tupelo are working to integrate the customs of an English-speaking parish with that of their growing Spanish-speaking neighbors. Thus, on December 10th, 2006, the church hosted a celebration to honor the Mexican tradition of Our Lady
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The Sparks Family Singers have been playing a blend of traditional gospel songs and their own compositions since 1972. The group is led by mandolin player and singer Bryan Sparks and it has featured several of his siblings over the years. Currently, he is joined by brother Dalton Sparks on guitar and vocals and their
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Charles T. Smith was born in 1922 in Webster County and began fiddling in childhood. He got started on an old fiddle that his father had brought broken and pieced back together. After teaching himself his first tune, his father (who had played the instrument as a younger man) showed him the basics of the
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Rockabilly and country performer Joe Rickman was born in Corinth in 1943 and has lived in Glen for fifty years. As a child, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry, and in 1955 he found his musical direction when he heard “some of the prettiest music I ever heard” by rockabilly artists including Elvis Presley,
The Lane Chapel Male Quintet is based out of Tupelo and performs a wide variety of music, ranging from spirituals to modern R&B. As its name implies, the group sings in five-part harmony. They use an acoustic guitar as accompaniment on some of their songs. Charles Raymond Richardson, who led the group until his death
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Bud and Hazel Huddleston were working musicians in Tippah County and across North Mississippi for over 50 years. Music brought the couple together; they played country and bluegrass throughout their years together at local dances, festivals, and on the radio. Bud was a native and lifelong resident of Tippah County. Hazel, a Tennessean by birth,
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Wayne Carter was born outside of Aberdeen in 1944 and grew up in a family that has produced a number of talented musicians. Carter is the grandson of “Fiddling George” Carter who recorded for several different recording labels in the late 1920s and who some credit with composing the standard “Cotton Eyed Joe.” He attended
Bobby Carter is carrying on a family tradition of fiddling. Carters have been making music in the same part of northeast Mississippi for several generations. Carter’s great uncle, George Carter, led Carter Brothers and Sons, a string band that recorded several 78rpm records in the late 1920s (which can be heard on Mississippi String Bands,
Rockabilly and country musician Leon Bass lives in Farmington, just east of Corinth, and was born in 1937 in Alcorn County, “way back in the country,” in a home without electricity. His father died when he was three, and following his mother’s passing when he was just eight, he was raised by his older sister,