Three area musicians headline blues performance at PRCC

POPLARVILLE - Pearl River Community College will host a celebration of the blues on Monday, Aug. 29, as part of Mississippi Bicentennial observance.

The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Brownstone Center for the Arts and is free.

Dr. Mark Malone, coordinator of music education at William Carey University and former PRCC choral director, will present a history of the blues followed by performances by Wes Lee of Petal and Vasti Jackson of Hattiesburg.

“We’re taking blues from its roots with the solo guitarist all the way through the rock influences with Vasti and his band,” said Dr. Kyle Hill, Brownstone Center director.

The concert is funded through a Bicentennial grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Malone is co-author of the Mississippi Blues Trail Curriculum for the Mississippi Arts Commission. The study guide is written for fourth grade classes but can be adapted for use throughout high school.

Lee plays a dobro-type blues guitar while Jackson’s music has more of a rock influence, Hill said.

“Wes does a lot of solo work, which is the way the blues started,” Hill said. “He’s won a lot of awards and plays a lot of blues festivals. What he does is not mainstream. Vasti, of course, is Grammy nominated. He’s coming off a big year.”

Tickets are not required for the concert.