Woodville bluesman Robert Cage was born in New Orleans on March 23, 1937, but his family, which has roots in southwestern Mississippi, soon moved to Natchez, where he spent his first six years. They then moved to the Percy Creek community, about ten miles west of Woodville near Lake Mary, where he lived for several […]
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The Jason Boone Band is a bluegrass group with members from throughout central and southern Mississippi, as well as one from southeastern Louisiana. It includes Jason Boone (tenor and guitar), Don Robinson (baritone and banjo), Johnny Rawls (upright bass), Lee Ely (mandolin, sings harmony), and Jeffrey Boone (fiddle, sings harmony). They count themselves lucky that
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Harmonica player and vocalist Jimmy Anderson was born on a farm near Natchez on November 21, 1934. His parents were sharecroppers who also worked in Natchez, and Anderson’s first exposure to the blues was via hearing the harmonica of Alexander “Papa George” Lightfoot, a deejay and recording artist who often played while he sold snowballs
Young Bobby Walters would comb the monthly magazines along with the Hattiesburg American for those ads that said: “Draw Me!” He would reproduce the published silhouette, send it off, and receive a letter proclaiming his extraordinary talent. But his mother would say that the correspondence courses cost too much—$150 was a lot of money in
It was in shop class in high school in California that Terry Tjader first employed a lathe, turning table legs. His family moved to Minnesota his senior year. He majored in industrial education at the University of Minnesota. He was interested in furniture design and really hoped to become a shop teacher. However, the work
Prize-winning quilter Judy Spiers was born and raised in Marion County and lives there now, on the western edge of Foxworth. Her family tree is packed with musicians and artists, many of them painters. She also has a great-great-great-great-great grandmother whose quilt is in a museum in Jackson. Most of these ancestors were farmers, though
Hystercine (pronounced “Her-teh-seen”) Rankin of Lorman has been making quilts since the age of twelve. She was taught by her grandmother in order to help make covers for her ten brothers and sisters. She continued to quilt after marrying and starting a family, providing quilts for the beds of each of her seven children. In
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Geraldine Nash is a native of Claiborne County, growing up on a farm outside of Port Gibson. She was one of eleven children and her mother was an active quilter. She quilted on a regular basis in order to create covers for her children’s beds. Nash did some quilting as a child with her mother,
Bill Mason grew up in Gulfport. He joined the Navy after high school, then attended The University of Southern Mississippi, from which he graduated in 1956. He’s been married 53 years. He and his wife have two children, now a stockbroker and a nurse. Bill had always been interested in woodworking. He retired in Hattiesburg
