Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation profile picture

Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation

Dare You to Do It Again!

About Me

QUEEN OF THE GUITAR BOOGIEKudzu cloaked hills encroach on the feeble shacks and pull down the power lines. Here and there, ancient roadbeds can be seen in the woods following old Indian paths; worn down head-high by the hundreds of years of feet, hooves and wheels. An almost frightening silence pervades, a holy murmur, in the hardwoods and creek bottoms. This is the “hill country” of North Mississippi or, more specifically, Sherman’s farm on the outskirts of Como.My sisters and my brothers, we all gathered here today to record a CD, a high-tech field recording. All day long and, the night before, musicians have started gathering and waiting for the arrival of “Miss Jessie”, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Queen of the Guitar Boogie. More than a recording session, this evening will prove to be a summit, reunion and document; an alcohol fueled juke-joint throw down presided over by sister Jessie Mae in a leopard skin cowboy hat.Of course Miss Jessie don’t drink; never has and she’s thankful for that! “White whiskey’ll make your head raggelly as a can of kraut, maan”, she says, and of course she’s right. Experience teaches you these things but sometimes it’s just best not to listen.Miss Jessie has been playing music since she was nine. Music ran in the family. Sid Hemphill, the “boar-hog musician of the hills” was her granddaddy. Fiddles, banjos, drums, guitars and quills, most hand made, hung in gunny sacks in his smoke-house, ready to be taken down and put to work. Alan Lomax described his music as representing “an early phase of African-American music” and a “clear revival of African tradition” in the south, which it does and is.That tradition is still being carried on today and this CD will prove that. Drums were “paramount in Sid’s bands” and tonight we’ve got the best-Kent Kimbrough and Cedric Burnside, along with the fife and drum corps of the Turner clan. A stroke in 1993 left Miss Jessie unable to play her guitar, so a string of guitar players from around the country are lined up to do the honors. Her one good hand will beat out rhythm on the tambourine. She don’t sing blues no more, preferring church music. Like all natural musicians her gift is undeniable and profound and will overcome any obstacle, spiritual or physical.So the microphones are set up, the wires run, and we’re sitting on ready. What you will hear on this CD is exactly what will go down tonight in the old potato barn under a cool, clear spring night in the country outside of Como.God bless Mississippi and pass the antisepticJimbo Mathus Como, 2003Jessie Mae Hemphill October 18, 1923 - July 22, 2006

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/9/2006
Band Website: jmhemphill.org
Band Members: Jimbo Mathus, Kenny Brown, Robert Belfour, Cedric Burnside, Kinney Kimbrough, Rising Star Fife & Drum, DJ Logic, Greg Humphreys, Tramp Camp, Steve Gardner, Ruthie Foster, Gary Burnside, Eric Deaton, Papa Mali, Chris Chew, and many more friends.....
Influences: The JMH Foundation was conceived as a nonprofit vehicle to draw public attention to the hill country blues music indigenous to the Northern Mississippi region, thereby ensuring its preservation.Many of the artists of this genre live in extreme poverty, some having already succumbed to sickness and old age. Many do not own their recordings. Having lived their lives in relative obscurity, North Mississippi blues musicians are currently experiencing something of a renaissance.The JMH Foundation recognizes this as an opportune time to raise public awareness of the region’s rich musical heritage. The Foundation will be soliciting public and private resources to the end of producing an ongoing series of sound recordings from this area. As president and secretary-treasurer of the foundation respectively, Olga Wilhelmine and Tyler Austin are dedicated to the preservation of roots music of the South. The JMH Foundation will provide a means for this music, which has long been recognized within the music industry, to reach a broader audience.The JMH Foundation has been recognized under section 501(c)3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code for charitable organizations. You may donate by sending a check or money order, payable to JMH Foundation, to (receipts will be sent for all donations):JMH Foundation PO Box 12 Como, MS 38619
Sounds Like: "This CD makes a great addition to the serious blues fan's collection and should prove to become quite a historic recording as time goes on. "-Jambase, 2004"...it’s time for you too to join the party with “Dare You Do It Again”- Il Blues Magazine, Milan Italy 2004"...an enjoyment and enthusiasm that the listener will be unable to ignore, making this an essential purchase for all lovers of North Mississippi Hill Country music."-Blues Matters, UK 2004"Buy this CD and you support a cause that gives north Mississippi hill country blues musicians like Hemphill the recognition and reward they deserve."- South Australian Blues Society, 2004
Record Label: 219records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Deep Blues Film Festival ’08 to Screen "Dare You to Do It Again"

Jessie Mae Hemphill's DVD "Dare You to Do It Again" will be screened at the 2008 Deep Blues Film Festival, July 18-20 in St. Paul, MN. For more information and screening time, please visit www.deepblu...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:32:00 PST

Jessie Mae Hemphill Headstone Dedication Ceremony

On July 30 a headstone will be dedicated at the grave of blues and gospel artist Jessie Mae Hemphill, who died on July 22, 2006, and was buried a week later on July 30. Hemphill, who was born October ...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:46:00 PST

Jessie Mae Hemphill Headstone Update

Yesterday, I was finally able to order Jessie's headstone. With many thanks to the Rodgers Funeral Home in Coldwater, MS, we are getting a large, grey, slate stone (4 feet hight 3 feet wide, base is 5...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Wed, 23 May 2007 05:06:00 PST

2nd annual North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic

Last July's inaugural North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic was a resounding success, drawing over 1,000 people to a rural site in Potts Camp in Marshall County. The festival demonstrated the vitality...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Tue, 08 May 2007 11:46:00 PST

Blues Today Symposium Feb. 15-17 to Focus on Blues Women

OXFORD, Miss. - Women were the first recorded blues singers, and the first decade of recorded music featured females almost exclusively. It is therefore fitting that Living Blues magazine's Blues Toda...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:36:00 PST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Olga WilhemineJesse Hemphill Foundation(901) 272-0049JMH FOUNDATION BEGINS WORK TO PRESERVE AND ARCHIVE HILL COUNTRY MUSIC OF NORTH MISSISSIPPIFoundation named in honor of hill countr...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:38:00 PST

OBITUARIES: JESSIE MAE HEMPHILL

Wearing a trademark Stetson, with a tam-bourine strapped to her leg and a no messin' attitude, Jessie Mae Hemphill was an innovative performer of the driving, hypnotic North Mississippi hill country b...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Sat, 23 Dec 2006 08:00:00 PST

Studio News, JMH Foundation

The studio is open and already recorded two bands: Bakealite 78's and now Sugarfarm last week. We still have finishing touches to do, namely the lobby, office and breakroom. I feel really blessed, as ...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Mon, 27 Nov 2006 06:04:00 PST

JESSE MAE HEMPHILL :: DARE YOU TO DO IT AGAIN

On the cover of Jesse Mae Hemphill & Friends new album is apicture of a dangerous looking older lady sitting in a chair in the middle of a field with a lit cigarette in one hand and a gun (possibly lo...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Tue, 10 Oct 2006 06:54:00 PST

As Jessie Mae got out of the car...

As Jessie Mae got out of the car, everyone loosened up a bit. Anticipation was about to burst into a musical celebration that went beyond just a great gig. It reached way down inside. We..d been bless...
Posted by Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation on Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:39:00 PST